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Thabdi penda
Caramelised milk pendas
થાબડી પેંડા: grainy, caramel-brown pendas of milk slowly reduced with sugar and patted flat, Rajkot style
Rajkot's sweet shops are famous across Gujarat for thabdi, a crumbly, toffee-brown penda that starts as plain milk and sugar and ends, two hours later, as something close to caramel fudge. The milk is boiled down in a wide iron kadai, a spoon of curd splits it slightly to give the trademark grainy texture, and the sugar browns slowly with it until the whole mass is the colour of milky tea. The usual mistake is rushing on high heat: the milk catches and tastes burnt rather than caramelised. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan and a flat wooden spatula, and keep scraping the bottom and sides every minute once the milk is half reduced.
- Total time
- 145 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 16
Ingredients
For the penda
- 8 ¼ cups full-fat milk
- 1 tbsp plain curd (yogurt)whisked
- 5 ½ oz sugar
- 1 tbsp ghee
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Bring 8 ¼ cups full-fat milk to the boil in a wide, heavy kadai over medium-high heat, stirring now and then so it does not catch.
15 minStep 2: Turn the heat to medium and let it reduce, stirring every few minutes and scraping the dried milk from the sides back in, for about 60 minutes until it has shrunk to roughly a quarter and looks like thick custard.
60 minStep 3: Stir in 1 tbsp plain curd (yogurt). Within a minute the milk will turn slightly grainy; this is what you want.
2 minStep 4: Add 5 ½ oz sugar and keep cooking on medium-low, scraping constantly, for 30–40 minutes. The mixture will loosen, then thicken, and slowly turn golden and then a light caramel-brown.
40 minStep 5: When it gathers into a soft brown mass that leaves the pan and a little fat glistens at the edges, stir in 1 tbsp ghee and ½ tsp ground cardamom and cook 3 minutes more.
3 minStep 6: Tip onto a plate and cool for 15 minutes until you can handle it. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces and pat each one flat in your palm into a rough disc; thabdi is never smooth.
20 minStep 7: Leave to firm up for 1 hour. Keep in an airtight box in the fridge for up to 10 days.
60 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 150 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 18 g
- Fat
- 7 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does thabdi penda take?
- About 145 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 140 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 16 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of full-fat milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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