Khoa

Khoa is a dairy product widely used in the cuisine of the Indian Subcontinent, encompassing India, Nepal, Bangladeshand Pakistan. It is made of either dried whole milk or milk thickened by heating in an open iron pan. It is lower in moisture than typical fresh cheeses such as ricotta

Khoa is used in various types of sweets:

• Pedha(penda in Gujarati) is sweetened khoa formed into balls or thick disks (like patties) with flavourings such as saffron and/or cardamom added.
• Gulab jamun, also a round ball sweet made from khoya and then deep fried and soaked in rose water flavoured sugar or honey syrup. A very popular Indian sweet.
• Barfi(or burfi) is also flavoured, but khoa is not the only ingredient. Typically, another ingredient, such as thickened fruit pulp or coconut shavings, is added to khoya and slow cooked until the moisture evaporates sufficiently to give the consistency of fudge, so it can be flattened and cut into rectangles, parallelograms or diamond shapes.
• Gujia, a sweet dumpling stuffed with khoa.

Halwa is essentially a fudge made by adding khoa to give a dairy-like taste and texture and as a thickening agent