This quick and easy no-cook soft khoya or mawa recipe uses ricotta cheese, milk powder, salt, and sugar to create a hariyali-style or soft khoya that is perfect for Indian desserts or curries.
This recipe saves SO MUCH TIME especially when making sweets for Diwali or another holiday season when lots of khoya is needed. This recipe does not require the stove, just simply mixing together a few common ingredients. It can be used to make my delicious bread malpua recipe or for gulab jamuns.
Why this recipe works
This recipe yields a quick and creamy khoya or mawa by using the rich milk-y taste of milk powder and combining it with creamy ricotta to get the texture and flavor of traditionally made khoya without spending so much time cooking the milk on the stove.
What is khoya?
Khoya is also known as mawa, koa, kova, or pal (milk) kova. It is an Indian milk product that is used both in sweet and savory applications in Indian cuisine. It is made by slowly condensing milk until it thickens into a solid form. The texture of the khoya can range from soft and creamy, which is often called hariyali-style khoya, to a harder and crumblier texture, which is often called batti khoya.
4 Ingredient khoya
- Milk Powder - This is the key to a milky flavor! I like to use whole milk powder when I get the chance to go to the Indian grocery store but low-fat milk powder will also work!
- Whole Milk Ricotta - This gives the creamy texture to the khoya/mawa. You can alternately use mascarpone cheese.
- Sugar - You can omit this if you like, but even for savory recipes, adding the sugar helps mimic the natural sweetness of milk when it is condensed.
- Sea Salt
Buy Now → What to use khoya for?
This khoya recipe serves as the perfect creamy topping for my easy bread malpua recipe. However, this khoya recipe is also great to create kofta for malai kofta, to thicken curries, or to add in cakes and cookies.
delicious and simple
Bread Malpua
The ghee-toasted bread soaked in a saffron syrup pairs perfectly with instant khoya!
Storage tips
- You can store the khoya in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- You can store the khoya in the freezer for 2-3 months. However, the texture of the khoya will become a bit more grainy after it is thawed. The resulting khoya will be more of a hard style khoya than a soft khoya. To make it softer, add a bit more ricotta or heavy cream to the khoya and whip it until it is creamier.
- As the khoya sits in the fridge it will become a thicker consistency.
- For a thinner or more spreadable khoya, allow the khoya to come to room temperature from the fridge or alternatively microwave the khoya in intervals of 5 seconds until it loosens up.
FAQ
For a thicker khoya/mawa, simply add less ricotta cheese. Also, allowing the khoya/mawa to rest in the fridge for 1 hour up to overnight will significantly thicken it.
Whole milk powder yields the most milk-y taste for this recipe; however, you can easily use low-fat or vegan milk powder as well.
You can alternatively use mascarpone cheese instead of whole milk ricotta in this recipe.
The instant khoya lasts for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Other recipes you may like
Here are some other delicious recipes that also use milk powder!
No-Cook Soft Khoya with Ricotta Cheese and Milk Powder
Product Reccs
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (140 g) whole milk ricotta cheese
- ½ cup (56 g) milk powder
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Add ¼ cup (140 g) whole milk ricotta cheese, ½ cup (56 g) milk powder, ½ teaspoon sugar, and ⅛ teaspoon sea salt into a small bowl.
- Mix all of the ingredients, using a spoon initially. It will initially look like there is not enough moisture but the more you mix, the more the khoya will form. It often helps to grease your hands and lightly knead the mixture until it forms a cohesive mass.
- If you like a creamy khoya, you can stop right here and you are done. If you want a thicker khoya, refrigerate the mixture for at least 1 hour. You can alternatively add less ricotta or more milk powder for a thicker consistency.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3-4 days. Spread on Indian desserts like bread malpua or use in savory applications like kofta.
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