Easy Milk Burfi / Peda

If you live in cities like Chicago, New Jersey, New York , Dallas (to name a few) or places where there are a lot of Indians or Pakistanis residing like the Bay area etc. finding freshly made mithai is no big deal. Mithai, by the way, is a milk based sweet treat loaded with sugar and khoya and nuts /dry fruits. Back in India mithais are made on daily basis and are found everyday in every local mithai shops. My childhood memories bring back the aromas of freshly fried Jalebis and still warm, melt in your mouth besan laddoos, mysore paak ....yum... I remember when we had huge celebrations at home, my father would call a mithaiwala (person who makes/sells mithai ) home and get mothichoor laddoos etc. done as we kids watched over . It was fun !

In Boston, where I live (in the suburbs), we usually have to settle for the mithais we get in the frozen section of the desi store. Milk burfi also known as kalakand is one of my favourites. This recipe would be more of a burfi than a kalakand due to its texture as kalakand generally is very granular.

Its a wonderful recipe, fit for parties/crowds. It can be made ahead of time with very little effort, few ingredients, no added sugar as we use sweetened condensed milk and gives very delicious results.

Ingredients :

1 can (14 0z.) condensed milk,
15 oz. ricotta cheese,
1 C pistachios coarsely chopped,
1.5 tsp. elaichi powder, or to taste ,
ghee for greasing .

Method :

In a heavy botttom pan combine condensed milk and ricotta cheese. Cook on medium heat until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from stove top and stir in the elaichi /cardamom powder. Grease a dish with ghee. (I used a 8" square baking dish, but you could also use a pie plate or any other size plate depending on how thick you want the slices to be.) Let the mixture cool slightly, then pour it on the greased plate sprinkle pistachios on the top and press lightly with your hands , just so the nuts stick to the mixture. Let it cool. Refrigerate for 2- 3 hours/ overnight. Cut into squares and serve.

If you want to make pedas then follow the same instructions until you pour the mixture to set. Let it set in fridge for a few hours. Using a tablespoon measure scoop out the mix and roll between palms to make pedas , roll the pedas in ground pistachios and refrigerate again for some time.

To share with this sweet treat are a lot of awards kindly passed on by a very sweet friend Sri Lekha . Thanks Sri for remembering me :)

I would further pass on these awards to 5 Star Foodie, A2Z Vegetarian, Anjum, Asha, Humaira, Jeena, Lubna, Lubna, Mansi, Mona, Pravs, Shaista and Yasmeen for inspiring many like me and being good friends, Thank you !