Kesar Malai Ladoos are a delicious Indian Mithai, made during festivals like Rakshabandhan, Diwali, etc. These Kesar Malai Ladoos are made using ricotta cheese, while traditionally they are made using fresh paneer and mawa. This recipe can be used to make Kesar Pedas too. We only need a handful of ingredients to make this recipe, and works great when you are running short on time.
Ricotta cheese malai ladoos are melt-in-mouth delicious, and I love how easy they are to make. Kesar in hindi is saffron, and malai in hindi means cream of milk. This Indian mithai is pure indulgence. I learnt to make mithai at home, simply because I never liked anything we get in the restaurants here, or at the Indian grocery stores.
I love the beautiful hue of orangish yellow color on these, they get from saffron. This Indian sweet meat is flavored with cardamom powder and saffron milk. You need only 30 minutes to prepare this Indian mithai, and they taste halwai style kesar malai ladoos.
If you shape these ladoos and then flatten them, they become pedas, which are just as delicious and appetizing!
Jump to:
- What are Kesar Malai Ladoos?
- What is Ricotta Cheese?
- Why You Will Love This Recipe?
- More Indian Ladoo Recipes You Might Like
- Expert Tips to Make Kesar Malai Ladoo
- Ingredients to Make Ricotta Cheese Kesar Malai Ladoos
- Step-By-Step Recipe To Make These Kesar Malai Ladoos
- Variations Of This Recipe
- Serving Suggestion and Storage Instruction
- More Indian Mithai Recipes From The Blog
- Ricotta Cheese Kesar Malai Ladoo
What are Kesar Malai Ladoos?
These kesar malai ladoos are made with full-fat ricotta cheese, whole milk powder, and ghee. They are flavored with saffron milk and cardamom powder. This sweet treat is melt-in-mouth delicious, and especially made during festivals like Diwali and Rakshabandhan in India.
My dad knows how much I love these, so he always brings them from India for me whenever he visits! This recipe is an easy version of the traditional recipe. Hence, you will need only 30 minutes of cooking time to make this recipe. These keep fresh in the refrigerator for almost a week. I bet you won't be able to stop yourself at just one!
What is Ricotta Cheese?
Ricotta cheese is a soft and creamy Italian cheese made using the whey of cow, sheep, goat, or buffalo milk. It has a very mild milky flavor and tastes great as a spread, in kinds of ravioli. This cheese can be used to make Instant Indian Mithais, which usually takes a long time to cook. Ricotta cheese works great to make sweets like Instant Kalakand, Rabdi, ladoos, etc.
Why You Will Love This Recipe?
- It is easy to make than the traditional recipe
- Melt-in-mouth delicious
- It takes only 45 minutes to make the ladoos from start to finish
- Uses a few ingredients
- You can make these ladoos into pedas too.
- Flavor the ladoos with different flavors like chocolate, rose, malai ladoos, etc.
More Indian Ladoo Recipes You Might Like
Expert Tips to Make Kesar Malai Ladoo
- You will measure the ingredients and keep them ready before you start cooking the recipe.
- Use a good quality non-stick pan to make this recipe. The last thing, you want is your ladoo mixture sticking to the pan.
- You can skip saffron and just make malai ladoos. The famous white ladoos you get at the Halwai shops in India.
- My recipe may be less sweet than what you might prefer. Give it a taste, if needed add more sugar.
- Stir the mix constantly while cooking it on a medium-low flame.
- If you don't have ricotta cheese, you can use fresh paneer instead. Crumble the fresh paneer and then add it to the recipe.
- Don't overcook the mix. Turn off the stove, once the mixture leaves the sides of the pan easily. And can be folded over easily.
- I prefer to use a cookie scoop to make sure I make equal-sized ladoos.
- Grease your palms with ghee before rolling the ladoos.
Ingredients to Make Ricotta Cheese Kesar Malai Ladoos
Ricotta Cheese - I like how ricotta cheese perfectly replicates the texture of crumbly mawa used in the traditional recipe. And cuts down the cooking time.
Ghee - You can use ghee or unsalted butter in this recipe.
Milk Powder - Milk powder will give the texture and mawa taste to the recipe.
Sugar - I am using regular castor sugar for the recipe.
Saffron Milk - Ground the saffron strands using small mortar pastel. Add cold milk to the powdered saffron. This bloomed saffron will naturally give a beautiful yellowish-orange color to the ladoos.
Cardamom - Are Indian mithais even complete without cardamom?
Garnishes - I like to use edible silver, pistachios, and saffron strands to garnish these ladoos.
Step-By-Step Recipe To Make These Kesar Malai Ladoos
1. Measure and keep all the ingredients ready
2. For saffron milk, pound 7-8 strands of saffron into powder. Now 3 tablespoons of cold milk, and mix.
3. Add 2 teaspoons ghee and 1 cup ricotta cheese in a non-stick pan.
4. You will see that the ghee and ricotta cheese will melt, and start to bubble. Keep stirring.
5. You will have to stir continuously for 6-7 minutes for ricotta to thicken after all the moisture is evaporated.
6. Add ½ cup milk powder, ½ cup sugar, saffron milk, and ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder.
7. Stir for another 10 minutes until the mixture starts to leave the pan and folder over easily. At this point, it shouldn't be sticky anymore. Turn off the flame.
8. Take the prepared ladoo mix out in a mixing bowl.
9. Once the mixture is cool, grease your palms with a drop of ghee.
10. Use a cookie scoop and scoop the kesar malai ladoo mix.
11. Scoop the ladoo mixture in your palm.
12. Now roll the ladoo, between your palms. It should be a perfect round and hold its shape.
13. Garnish with edible silver, slivered pistachios and saffron strands.
Variations Of This Recipe
- Add cocoa powder instead of saffron milk, and cardamom powder. Also, add some orange zest in the end. These chocolate ladoos will taste delicious.
- Skip saffron milk, and only add cardamom powder to make malai pedas or malai ladoos.
- Add rose syrup in then end to mak rose malai ladoos. Skip saffron milk.
- Add mango pulp to the recipe, to make mango malai ladoos.
- You can add almond powder or cashew powder instead of milk powder to make kaju badam ladoo.
Serving Suggestion and Storage Instruction
These kesar malai ladoos taste best when served at room temperature. The ladoos will be melt-in-mouth delicious.
I like to store these in the refrigerator in an air-tight container. They stay well in the refrigerator for 5 days. So, it makes a great recipe to make ahead for an upcoming festival. Just take them out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before you are ready to serve.
More Indian Mithai Recipes From The Blog
Ricotta Cheese Kesar Malai Ladoo
These nutrional values are automatically generated. Use them for estimation only.
Equipment
- 1 Non-Stick Pan
- 1 Silicon Spatula
- 1 Mixing Bowl
- 1 Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
- 2 Teaspoons Ghee
- 1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (Full Fat)
- ½ Cup Milk Powder
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 3-4 Tablespoons Saffron Milk 7-8 Saffron strands + 3-4 Tablespoons Cold Whole Milk
- ¼ Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
Garnishes
- 1 Tablespoon Pistanchios Slivered
- 10 Saffron Strands
- 2 sheets Edible Silver
Instructions
- Measure and keep all the ingredients ready
- For saffron milk, pound 7-8 strands of saffron into powder. Now 3 tablespoons of cold milk, and mix.
- Add 2 teaspoons ghee and 1 cup ricotta cheese in a non-stick pan.
- You will see that the ghee and ricotta cheese will melt, and start to bubble. Keep stirring on a medium low flame.
- You will have to stir continuously for 6-7 minutes for ricotta to thicken after all the moisture is evaporated.
- Add ½ cup milk powder, ½ cup sugar, saffron milk, and ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder.
- Stir for another 10 minutes until the mixture starts to leave the pan and fold over easily. At this point, it shouldn't be sticky anymore. Turn off the flame.
- Take the prepared ladoo mix out in a mixing bowl.
- Once the mixture is cool, grease your palms with a drop of ghee.
- Use a cookie scoop and scoop the kesar malai ladoo mix.
- Scoop the ladoo mixture in your palm.
- Now roll the ladoo, between your palms. It should be a perfect round and hold its shape.
- Garnish with edible silver, slivered pistachios and saffron strands.
Notes
- Double the recipe to make a larger quantity of this recipe.
- Checkout the variations part of the blog, to make more different flavors using this recipe.
- Store the ladoos in the refrigerator for 5 days.
- Take the ladoos out of the refrigerator atleast 20 minutes before serving. Once the ladoos are at room temperature, they will be melt-in-mouth delicious.
- They are a great make ahead Indian mithai for an upcoming event, party or festivities.
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