Makkan Peda – The Famous Arcot Sweet

I always love the famous Arcot Sweet “Makkan Peda”. Arcot is my mother’s native and even mine as i too born in Arcot but brought up in Chennai from my age one onwards. Whenever i go during school holidays, i used to have it. But now a days, whenever i go Chennai, my uncle get this sweet from Arcot specially for me. I love it so much. I just love the crunchy taste of nuts and the soft and sweetness of the peda. After i saw the peda from Jay of Tasty Appetite, i started craving for it and now is the time for it. I did it with the gulab jamun formula instead of khoya. Here comes the recipe.

Ingredients

• Milk Powder – 1.5 cup
• All Purpose flour – 1/2 cup
• Unsalted Butter – 1/4 cup 
• Baking Soda – 2 pinch
• Milk – 1/4 cup (can be increased or reduced accordingly)
• Curd – 1 tsp
• Nuts and Raisins – as required for the stuffing (i used Pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews, water melon seeds)
• Oil – for frying

Sugar syrup

• Sugar – 2 cups
• Water – 1.5 cups
• Cardamom – 2 pinch
• Saffron – few strands

Method

• In a bowl, mix the milk powder, all purpose flour, baking soda and butter nicely.
• Now add the curd and mix again.
• Add milk, little by little and make it into a soft dough. 
• Let it rest for 15 min.
• Now take the dough and it will be bit dry by this time, add some more milk (or water) little by little and keep it soft.
• Now take small quantity of dough and stuff it with nuts and raisins and make in to small balls.

• While making the balls, you can start preparing the sugar syrup, in a large bowl, by adding the sugar and water. When sugar gets dissolved, add the cardamom and saffron, and keep in low flame.
• In another pan, add the oil and keep in low to medium flame.
• When the oil is hot, add the balls one by one and start frying as like jamuns.
• Fry till the balls comes to golden brown color fully.
• Take out the balls, and dry it with kitchen tissue and transfer in to the hot sugar syrup immediately.
• Let it rest for 1 to 2 hrs or till the balls absorbs the syrup.
• Serve it by garnishing with some nuts.

Note: 
1. The softness of dough is that, it should not stick more in your hands and you should be able to make it into a small balls.
2. For frying, instead of oil, ghee can also be used.
3. Instead of butter, even ghee can be added.
4. The sugar syrup must be hot, when you add the makkan peda in to the syrup.

This goes to the event – Celebrate Sweets – Stuffed Sweets – Guest hosted by me and brain child of Nivedita.