Khoa or Mawa

It is a partially dehydrated whole milk product prepared by desiccation of milk to 65-70 percent total solids in an open pan. Milk contains nearly 83-87 percent water; in order to increase the concentration of milk, water is evaporated from the milk by boiling. Khoa is used as a base material for the preparation of variety of sweets like burfi, peda etc.

Traditionally, khoa is prepared from fresh milk in small lots i.e. 4-5 kg of milk per batch. A wide variation in the composition and quality of khoa occurs from batch to batch. Good quality khoa usually has a white or pale yellow colour, free from burnt particles, has a pleasant flavour, firm body and smooth texture. Preparing and selling khoa is a profitable enterprise and it is a recipe to success in developing countries like India.

How to prepare?

A clean, steam jacketed kettle or karahi along with a stirrer is used for preparing khoa.

The milk intended for khoa making is analyzed for fat, SNF, acidity and flavour quality.

If the milk is from cow it is standardized to 4.0% fat and for buffalo milk, the level is 5%.

The milk is strained through a filter cloth.

Required quantity of clean milk (4-5 litres) is taken in a karahi or kettle.

The milk is heated to boil with continuous stirring.

The stirring is continued in circular motion with the help of a flattened end of a scraper/stirrer. During the stirring process, all parts of the karahi / kettle that comes in contact with the milk are scraped.

When sufficient moisture has evaporated, boiling subsides and the milk becomes highly viscous and rabri like in consistency. At this stage, heating is discontinued and the karahi is removed from the fire.

During the later stages of boiling, close attention has to be paid for the evaporation process to complete.

With the help of a wooden ladle, the clotted granules are broken to smoothen the texture.

The product is taken out and packed in a round container to form the balls (approximately 1 kg in weight).

The weight of the khoa obtained is determined. It is usually packed in vegetable parchment paper or polyethylene bags.

The colour, flavour, body, texture and the general appearance of the khoa prepared from cow and buffalo milk is examined. The fat and moisture percentage of product is determined.

It is stored in cool, dark place, preferably in a refrigerator. The keeping quality of the product at 5°C is 25 days.

Khoa acts as a base material in the preparation of various products such as peda, gulab jamun, burfi etc. The recipe to prepare various products are given in the above respective links.