Dharwad Pedhe

Dharwad Pedhe

Pedhe/Pedha is an emotion for us Dharwadians. It is made with very minimal ingredients and tastes out of the world. I have grown up eating these little balls of heaven.

Pedhes were always available in my Ajjas (Grandpa) house. My Ajji (Grandma) used to wake up very early in the morning at 4 .00 am. She would close the kitchen doors so that her activities doesn’t disturb anyone. She would boil the milk,make preparations for breakfast and lunchand take a break. During her break, she would make tea for herself and eat half of a pedhe to fulfill her sweet tooth and also to fill her stomach until Ajja wakes up. She wouldn’t eat breakfast without Ajja. Ajja being his cute self used to get Ajji’s favorite sweets so that she wouldn’t have to spend her mornings without doing her sweet eating ritual. Every time I make this sweet it reminds me of the love that both my Ajja and Ajji shared.

I was never a fan of this sweet. I realised my love for this when I came to Germany. Unfortunately, we don’t get this here. So, I decided to prepare this myself with friend’s father’s recipe who also owns a Pedhe shop in Dharwad. To know how to make this recipe, follow the steps below.

Dharwad Pedhe

Dharwad Pedha

Anupama Amur Pujar
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Indian
Servings 12

Equipment

  • Heavy Bottom Pan
  • Muslin Cloth or Cheese cloth or an unused cotton hanky

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Litre Milk
  • 2-3 tbsp Yogurt or Vinegar or Lemon
  • 1 cup Milk For roasting chena/paneer
  • 1/2 cup Ghee For roasting chena/paneer
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 6-7 tsp Sugar For dusting

Instructions
 

  • In a heavy bottom pan, boil milk.
  • Once the milk boils, add lemon or yogurt or vinegar to curdle the milk.
  • Keep stirring for 2-3 minutes on a low to medium flame until the milk curdles completely.
  • You will start to see solid bits floating on top of clear water.
  • Strain it in a sieve, to get rid of all the clear water and only paneer remains
  • Wash the paneer well to get rid of the tangy taste of lemon or yogurt or vinegar.
  • Add the paneer onto a cheese cloth or muslin cloth, tie it and hang for at least an hour to get rid of all the excess water.
  • Add all the paneer to a heavy bottom pan and add a tsp of ghee, milk and sugar every 10 minutes and keep stirring.
  • Keep adding a teaspoon of milk, ghee and sugar until the mixture turns brown in colour and all the sugar, ghee and milk is added. Save a teaspoon of milk, ghee and sugar for later. This would take around 60- 90 minutes.
  • Let the mixture cool down completely. Grind the mixture into a fine powder by adding the remaining teaspoon of milk, ghee and sugar.
  • Now again, roast the fine powder until it changes colour to dark brown.
  • Slightly cool the mixture and its ready to be shaped.
  • Take a small lemon sized pedhe mix and roll it into an oval shaped ball.
  • Roll the balls in granulated sugar. Repeat the process for all of the pedhe mix.
  • Delicious pedhes are ready to be served!
  • Store them in an air tight container.

Notes

  • While boiling the milk keep stirring continuously.
  • Keep stirring after adding lemon to help milk curdle completely.
  • Use a heavy bottom pan while making Pedhes. Otherwise the mixture will get burnt easily.
  • Add more sugar if you like.
  • You can also add more ghee if you want the pedhes to be slightly soft.
  • Whiles roasting the mixture, use low to medium flame.
Keyword Dharwad, Dharwadspecial, Pedha, Pedhe, sweet
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