Dharwad pedha
AI-drafted · awaiting admin review
A grainy, caramel-brown milk sweet of Dharwad, made by slowly cooking milk solids with sugar and coated with fine sugar.
Region: Dharwad, KarnatakaOccasion: Festivals, good news and giftingTime: 1 hour 30 minServes: About 15 piecesVegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 litres full-cream milk (or 400 g fresh khoa)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- ¼ cup powdered sugar, for coating
Method
- Boil the milk in a heavy wide pan, stirring and scraping often, until it reduces to a thick khoa. This takes about an hour.
- Keep cooking the khoa on low heat, stirring all the time, until it turns light brown and grainy.
- Add the sugar and 2 tbsp milk and keep stirring. The mixture will loosen and then darken to a caramel brown.
- When it leaves the pan as a dry, crumbly mass, add the cardamom and switch off the heat.
- When cool enough to handle, shape into small cylinders or rounds.
- Roll in powdered sugar and store in an airtight box.
History
Dharwad pedha has a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Local accounts link its origin to a family of sweet-makers who came to Dharwad from Uttar Pradesh in the 19th century.
Significance
Visitors to Dharwad take home boxes of pedha, and families distribute it to share good news such as a birth, wedding or exam result.