Friday, March 2, 2012

Mawa Recipe - An Indian Dessert


My parents are from India so I grew up eating curries and dishes made with paneer, which is made from soured milk. My mom used to make all sorts of Indian desserts with milk that she would sour with vinegar or lemon juice. She taught me how to make a few of them. It has been a while since I have made many of the desserts because hubby doesn't care for the desserts made with soured milk. I have had a half gallon bottle of sour milk in the fridge for a while now. I keep telling myself I will make rasgulla but it has not happened yet. 

This morning I finally decided to make something with the soured milk. I poured the milk in a pot and turned on the stove to the lowest setting. The milk was already so sour that I did not have to add any vinegar or lemon juice (this only happens with raw milk.) The curds started to separate from the whey. I was initially going to make rasgulla which are milk balls in a light sugar syrup. I decided that this was too many steps for today and I would not have enough free time to make it as my son enjoys my attention during the day. So I called my mom to ask her how to make the mawa (pronounced m-ow.) I had made it once before but that was many years ago.  Most of the recipes online used sweetened condensed milk, that is not the authentic way to make it - not to mention, very unhealthy! This recipe is the authentic way of making it. The only change is that I used coconut sugar and stevia instead of regular granulated sugar.


It came out perfect! Here is the recipe:

Mawa Recipe

1/2 gallon of raw milk (it can already be soured)
3 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice (only needed if milk is not sour)
1/2-3/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp stevia powder
shredded coconut (optional)

Pour the milk into a large pot. Turn pot on lowest setting. Once the milk heats up, it may start separating if it is already sour. If it is not sour, add the vinegar or lemon juice. You will see the curds start to separate. You can turn the heat up a little as the milk has to reduce to a pudding consistency. Keep stirring every 10-15 minutes. Once the milk had reduced to half, add the sweeteners (add more or less based on your preferences, just remember that the milk will reduce more so it will get sweeter as it reduces.) Mix the sweeteners through and keep stirring so the milk doesn't burn or stick to the pot. The cooking process will take about 2 hours. You will know it is done when it is a very thick consistency. The color should be a nice tan.

Grease an 8 x 8 glass or pie dish. Let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes in the pot, then scoop into dish and pat down. Sprinkle with shredded coconut, if desired, and press down a little. Put in fridge and let cool.

Cut into bars and serve.


6 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! Can't wait to try it :) I wrote an entire post about the benefits of raw milk -- check it out: http://mylifeinapyramid.com/2012/03/my-raw-milk-conversion-why-how-i-decided-to-embrace-fresh-local-milk/

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  2. Would cane sugar work instead of coconut sugar?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, can sugar will work fine. Just add a little at a time until it reaches your desired sweetness.

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  3. What is stevia powder?

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    Replies
    1. Stevia is a leaf that is used as a sweetener. You can omit it and use whatever sweetener you prefer. Just taste as you add the sweetener.

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  4. I love milk recipes...
    especially this one...
    Glad to read your post...Thanks for sharing such nice information, it’s beneficial for me.
    I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post. Keep sharing.

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