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Subho Bijayar Priti O Suvecha
And, the 5 days of celebrations come to an end with Dashami. Every year the day marks a bitter sweet farewell to the biggest festival of Bengalis. Dashami marks the end of Durga puja, and bijaya starts. Bijaya is the time to visit your relatives and gore on some delicious sweets and snacks.
To extend the Dusshera festivities I decided to make some sweets. It was a spur of the moment thought and so I had to resort to whatever I had in the pantry. I decided to make peda or milk fudge. While the ones you get in Kalighat are made from milk boiled for hours and stirred continuously, I resorted to the easier way – making peda in microwave. It took a total of 4 minutes cooking time in microwave to get the exact consistency you need to prepare the shapes.
The peda will remain good in the fridge for more than week if kept in an airtight container and for about 6 months in the freezer.
- 1 can condensed milk
- ¾ cup milk powder
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder, extra for garnish
- 1 teaspoon saffron
- In a microwave safe bowl pour in the milk powder and ghee, give it a good stir to mix, then pour the condensed milk and mix well. Put it in the microwave and cook on high for a minutes.
- Take it out and add the saffron and cardamom powder and stir. Put it back in the microwave and cook for another 30 seconds. Take out and stir.
- By this time you’ll notice the mixture has taken a dry look on the top, and when you stir it will take a thick soup consistency. Put it back in the microwave for 2 – 3 minutes more in intervals of 30 seconds and stirring in between everytime.
- Once done, pour it on a plate or wax paper and let it cool so that you are able to touch it. Grease your palms with ghee and take about a tablespoon of the mixture and roll to make a ball, press in between your palms to flatten it. Garnish with saffron and cardamom
- Make sure the bowl is deep, as the mixture will rise while cooking, and in a shallow bowl it will spill.
- Instead of flattening the balls, you can also use stone or wooden mold to create shapes of your choice.
Hi Anupama,
Thanks for the comment, yes you can use a microwave safe glass bowl to make the peda. I have edited the post, it should be seconds and not minutes, very sorry about that.
I have a 1200 watts microwave, so if yours is different then I think you need to change the time.
Great and easy recipe Sudeshna. Can we use a glass microwave safe bowl for same? And is it safe to keep this mixture in microwave for 30 mins or do we have to stir it in between?
Also could you share the power/watt specification of your microwave so that we can adjust the time accordingly.