Palkova Recipe (Easy 20 Minutes Method) | Cook Click N Devour!!! (2024)

Palkova is a traditional sweet recipe from Tamil Nadu. This dish is just thickened milk sweetened with sugar and served as dessert. It is a very Rich, delicious sweet made for festivals, celebrations.

It is very easy to make palkova at home but it takes lots of time usually. Simmering full fat milk until it becomes thick takes hours and involves a whole lot of stirring. There is also a shortcut method to make this sweet.

In this post I am sharing the detailed recipe of instant palkova and a quick brief recipe for traditional method.

Palkova or therattipal is one of my most favorite Indian milk sweet. This dish is absolutely a milk sweet, true to its name, made of only milk and sugar. Some ghee is added for flavor but it is purely optional.

This traditional south Indian sweet is mostly prepared for baby shower and also festivals like Krishna Jayanthi, Navratri.

This sweet is widely available in shops but when we make at home we can control the sugar quantity as well as it is more economical.

I make palkova recipe at home often. Sometimes I take the traditional route but most of the times I use this shortcut recipe only. It tastes just as delicious as the traditional one.

About This Recipe

Palkova or palgova literally means reduced milk. So this recipe is all about reducing milk until it becomes a creamy solid mass to which sugar or jaggery is added.

Authentic palkova is just sweetened milk khova without any flavoring. No nuts are added for garnish too. I have just placed some pistachios just for photo.

Traditional method of making palkova take lot of time and stirring work. Here I am sharing an easy palkova recipe that comes together in 15 minutes. You need just 2 ingredients to make this rich and tasty palkova. I have made this palkova or therattipal on stove top as I don’t prefer cooking in micro wave oven. You can very well make this palkova on microwave oven too.

To make palkova recipe I have used 2 tablespoons curd for 400 grams sweetened condensed milk. You can add more curd for a more grainy texture. we prefer our palkova to be a bit smooth. Since this is a very easy sweet you can make this palkova sweet for diwali for guests in minutes. I have shared few more easy diwali sweet recipes that gest ready in 15 minutes like kalakand, kaju katli, easy coconut ladoo, malai ladoo, quick rasgulla recipes.

If you want to try your hands at making traditional palgova recipe, I have got you covered too. A brief recipe is given for the same after the detailed recipe.

Serve palkova as snack or dessert at room temperature. Keeps well for 3-4 days. It is

super delicious

rich & creamy

Traditional sweet made easy.

Best suited for celebrations & festival season

Made with just 2 ingredients

If you are looking for more easy diwali sweet recipes do check besan ladoo, badusha, jalebi, jangri, rasgulla, gulab jamun recipes.

How To Make Palkova

Combine condensed milk and ghee in a thick pan.

Cook in low flame for 5 minutes till the condensed milk starts bubbling.

Add 1 tablespoon curd and mix well. Cook for few minutes. if the condensed milk is not fully curdled add the next tablespoon if curd and mix well.

By now the condensed milk should have curdled well. Keep stirring until the mixture is completely, curdled and grainy like palkova.

The palkova turns more grainy on cooling. Cool thoroughly and serve at room temperature.

Traditional Method

Traditional method of making palkova is easy but time consuming. You will have to simmer and stir the milk continuously for 50-60 minutes.

For this traditional south Indian milk sweet recipe you will need a heavy pan or pot. I prefer to use a heavy pressure cooker base. You can also a non stick pan.

• You will need just milk, sugar & ghee
• 4 cups full fat milk or whole milk, use cow milk preferably. Use full cream milk for best results. Low fat or skimmed milk will not give much yield.
• 1/3 or 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons ghee

Instructions

Add milk to the pan and first bring it to a boil. Once the milk reaches a full boil, maintain medium low flame and cook it.

Keep cooking until the milk thickens and becomes solid. It will take around 45-50 minutes for this quantity of milk. As you cook, make sure to scrape the sides of the pan, collect the milk solids and add it back to the simmering milk. Stir continuously to prevent milk from spilling over and avoid burning at the bottom of the pan. You can also place a ladle inside the pan or a wooden spatula across the pan to prevent milk from spilling over.

Once the milk has thickened well, add sugar & ghee. Adding sugar will loosen the consistency a bit. Mix well and simmer again till the milk becomes solid, grainy and the mixture separates from the sides of the pan. Stir occasionally at regular intervals to avoid khova sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Remove from flame and let cool for few minutes. Transfer the palkova to an airtight container and serve as required. Palkova thickens on cooling, so it is ok if it is a bit loose when removing from flame.

Serving Suggestions

Serve palkova as snack along with a savory item like bajji, bonda, mixture along with coffee. It is also served as a part of wedding feast, festival spread.

You can also serve as dessert after south Indian meal.

Storage

Palkova keeps well for about 2 days at room temperature. As it made of milk, it does not keep well for long time at room temperature. It keeps well for a week refrigerated.\

Expert Tips

Use full fat milk or whole milk for best results. Four cups of milk will yield a little more than 1/2 cup palkova. If you use low fat milk, there will not much fat to solidify. This holds good for all milk sweets.

Always use a thick bottomed pan for making this sweet. On simmering milk solids tend to stick at the bottom. A thick pan will prevent the burning. The given quantity of sugar will yield moderately sweet palkova. You can add more sugar if you like it sweeter.

In traditional palkova there are no flavorings added to this sweet but you can add a pinch of cardamom powder or saffron. Add 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder along with sugar.

If you want to make it a bit less sweet, add 1 cup full fat milk along with condensed milk.

Frequently Asked Questions

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