Ricotta Cheese Peda or Malai Peda was introduced to me by a good friend during a festival get-together at her home. The term "Peda" is common among sweets from India. It is almost like fudge but more of a semi-soft and thick consistency. Malai refers to the cream of milk. I loved the Peda instantly. When I learned how quick and easy it was to make this deliciously sweet, I wanted to try it out myself.
This is a great choice to make for any celebration. As the festival of lights, Diwali is approaching in a few days, folks celebrating are getting ready with festivities and preparing sweets. We all need a reason to celebrate such occasions in whatever little way, so we can focus and be grateful for the good things in life.
Ingredients needed for the Peda
- Ricotta Cheese packet - A store-bought variety like Galbani is preferred as it makes the job easy.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk - Gives a rich taste and we can avoid the addition of sugar as it is already sweet.
- Milk powder - Any kind, I used the "milk mawa" powder that is available in the Indian Grocery store here.
- Cardamom - Green cardamoms are used and they are powdered to get a nice aroma and flavor.
- Ghee - Applied on the palms to roll the pedas into small balls.
Why does this recipe work?
- It is easy to make and gets done in no time.
- It has a simple list of ingredients and they are all usually found in your pantry.
- They are small little fudge balls and bite-sized ones can have them guilt-free.
- Guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser at any get-togethers
How do you make Ricotta Cheese Peda?
I used the store-bought Ricotta cheese for this recipe. You could also try making the Ricotta cheese from scratch at home but I have not tried that. We also need the sweetened condensed milk and milk powder that is easily available. A little cardamom powder is added to enhance the taste. Most of these items are usually found in your pantry. This is such a quick and easy sweet dessert to make and a crowd-pleasing one too. It is delicious, irresistible, and tempting to keep having one after another as they are small and bite-sized.
To prepare we first mix the Ricotta cheese and condensed milk in a bowl and transfer it into a pan. Stir the mixture continuously for about 20 minutes, till it leaves the sides. Next, add milk powder. I used the milk mawa powder you get in the Indian grocery store. Keep stirring until it is well combined. Finally, it forms a dough-like consistency. Cardamom powder is added at this point. The flame is switched off. Once cooled for about 10 to 15 minutes, make the pedas by taking a small scoop of the mixture, and making small round balls with your palms. First press it and then roll it between both palms. You can use a little ghee while rolling and shaping the pedas to get smooth round shapes.
Tips to make the ricotta cheese peda
- Use a heavy-bottomed pan to make this sweet dish so that the cheese and condensed milk combined do not get stuck to the sides.
- Stir continuously and cook on medium or low flame and take care not to burn the mixture
- Cool the mixture before rolling the pedas as they cannot be shaped when hot.
- Smear a little ghee on your palms while shaping the pedas into small balls to avoid the dough sticking onto your palms.
Ricotta Cheese Peda
Ingredients
- 15 oz Ricotta Cheese
- 1 can Condensed milk
- ⅓ or ½ cup Milk powder
- ¼ tsp Cardamom powder
- 2 tbsp Ghee For rolling the peda dough into small balls
Instructions
- In a bowl mix Ricotta cheese & condensed milk , transfer to a heavy bottomed pan .
- Heat the mixture on medium flame , it will first loosen up a bit.
- Continue stirring for about 20 minutes until the mixture starts leaving sides of the pan.
- Add milk powder and continue stirring till it becomes like a big mass of dough.
- Add cardamom powder to this and switch off flame .
- Cool the mixture for about 10-15 minutes.
- Make small round balls using your palm.
- Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Nutrition
If you loved this sweet dish you will definitely love the milk peda (fudge) that I posted for last Diwali. Do check it out as well. Hope you have a safe, fun, and blessed Diwali if you plan to celebrate.
I like to make simple & easy sweets, now I have added this peda in my to-do list. Thanks, Nisha, for sharing this recipe.
Hope you like it as much as we do Megala. I absolutely agree , simple and easy to make sweets are really my first choices as well. Thank you so much !
These sweets look so light and tasty. Love the addition of cardamom in them.
Thank you so much Ronit, they were really delicious, cardamom adds a nice flavor as well.
This looks so yummy, and best part is that it's easy to make. Thanks for sharing.
Yes Anjali, very easy to make and delicious as well, hope you will try it! Thank you for stopping by.
Looks yummy!😊💖
Thank you so much , it was indeed delicious !
I have never heard of peda, but they sound really good and I love trying new things! Thanks for sharing this recipe, I am excited to try.
Wonderful to hear you loved this sweet. Very simple to make and most delicious. 'Peda' is a term used in India for fudge consistency like sweets , usually made with milk solids and sugar. Thank you so much for stopping by!
This looks so interesting and different, but also delicious! Great detailed directions and pictures. 🙂
Thank you so much for the wonderful comment, it sure is delicious. Great for festivities and get-togethers as well.
These sound amazing and I wish I could pick one up and eat it!
Aww Thank you so much Diane, You are most welcome to have them .Sending it you virtually! Have a wonderful weekend.
Oh myy, i am drooling while reading this recipe
Thank you dear , it's very delicious indeed ! Hope you will try making it some time 🙂
This less ingredients peda looks so soft and well shaped Nisha. Will try !! 💦💙
Yes absolutely Suni, just a handful of ingredients that make such a delicious sweet .I would love to hear how it turns out. Thank you so much!
Sure Nisha 💌
These look so tasty! I have never heard of peda before but I want to try it now!
Thank you so much, this is really worth trying.Enjoy!
YUM
Thank you so much for stopping by and the comment!
looks so delish — can imagine people fighting for the last piece lol
Yes exactly right , disappears in no time and seems like the last few are the most tastiest 🙂 Thank you so much!
I can imagine myself gulping one after another peda. They look so irresistible..!!
That's exactly what happens Deeksha very iresistible indeed. Appreciate your comments!
These ricotta cheese peda looks so tempting, this reminds me of rasagolas, my favorite sweet. And with less ingredients , I'm so excited to try , will bookmark this recipe, thanks for sharing this recipe!
You will absolutely love this delicious pedas Aarthi , easy and no fuss to make and tastes awesome! I would love to hear if you make them. Thank you so much for stopping by!
I've never heard of peda before but if it has ricotta cheese in it, I can imagine that it would be a wonderful treat. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Deborah, yes indeed ricotta cheese is the star ingredient and it almost tastes similar to a fudge.
I do love Ricotta in every way I have tried it, and I'm sure I'd love it as a fudge. The cardamom must give a wonderful flavor and aroma to this dairy base.
This is a wonderful sweet dish Beth, very simple to make and tastes awesome . The cardamom gives a nice flavor and aroma to this peda indeed. Thank you so much!
I have never heard of them but they sound delicious!
I bet you will love these delicious pedas Larena .Thank you so much for the comments.
Love how easy these ricotta cheese peda look to make. We use a lot of ricotta here in Italy so I always have it in the fridge. Going to give these a try over the weekend.
Yes indeed Jacque , they are so easy to make and tastes really good .Hope you love them. Thank you so much for the comments.
I'd never heard of these sweets so I had to give them a whirl. I'm so glad I did! They were super tasty and I loved the addition of cardamom I am so glad I had some on my spice rack.
These are absolutely delicious! I love the smooth rich texture and that slightly sweet flavor. Yum!
I love cardamom! Such a great flavor. This recipe is really easy to make - thank you so much for sharing!
I tried the ricotta cheese peda, and it turned out great! It was so easy to make, and the texture was perfect. This is definitely going to be a go-to for quick, delicious desserts.
Wow! so easy to make and such an unusual sweet treat! I'm hapy I found this recipe for ricotta cheese peda