Khoya substitute

Best substitute

Full-fat milk powder with milk and ghee

1 cup milk powder plus 3 to 4 tablespoons warm whole milk plus 1 tablespoon ghee makes about 1 cup khoya

Best for peda

Close match

The best all-round shortcut, ready in five minutes.

Other khoya substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Whole-milk ricotta, cooked dry
Close match
2 cups whole-milk ricotta reduces to about 1 cup khoya
The closest match in texture, because it is already curdled milk solids.
What changes
Best for
gajar ka halwa, barfi, kalakand, sweet fillings
Cook it in a wide heavy pan over low heat, stirring often, for twenty to thirty minutes until the water is gone and it starts to come away from the sides in a mass. It ends up granular in exactly the way danedar khoya is, which is why it excels in halwa and kalakand. It tastes very slightly tangier than real khoya because ricotta is acid-set, and a spoon of sugar plus a pinch of cardamom covers that entirely. Use whole-milk ricotta, not part-skim, which turns rubbery.
3Crumbled paneer with milk powder
Different taste
1 cup finely crumbled paneer plus ¼ cup milk powder plus 1 tablespoon sugar, kneaded
Firm, workable and forgiving, especially where the khoya has to hold a shape.
What changes
Best for
gulab jamun, barfi, peda, sandesh-style sweets
Grate the paneer on the fine side of a box grater rather than chopping it, then knead with the heel of your hand until there are no lumps and the mix feels smooth. This makes a drier, less sweet base than real khoya, which is an advantage for gulab jamun dough because it resists falling apart in the oil, and a slight disadvantage in halwa where you want it to melt into the carrots. Add a tablespoon of ghee if it feels crumbly.
4Sweetened condensed milk cooked with milk powder
Different taste
1 can (about 14 oz) condensed milk plus 1 cup milk powder, cooked to a thick mass; reduce the recipe's sugar by about a third
Very quick and very sweet, so the recipe has to be rebalanced.
What changes
Best for
barfi, coconut barfi, fudge-style sweets, quick halwa
Warm the condensed milk in a nonstick pan, whisk in the milk powder, and keep stirring for five to eight minutes until it thickens and leaves the sides. The sugar already in the condensed milk is substantial, so cutting the recipe's sugar by roughly a third is not optional or the sweet will be sickly. The color comes out slightly more golden than real khoya, which looks good in barfi.
5Evaporated milk with milk powder
Different texture
½ cup evaporated milk whisked with 1 cup milk powder over low heat
A shelf-stable route with the right cooked-milk flavor built in.
What changes
Best for
barfi, peda, halwa, sweet stuffings
Evaporated milk has already been heat-treated, so it carries the faintly caramelized note that is the hardest part of khoya to fake. Whisk the powder in off the heat to avoid lumps, then cook gently for three or four minutes until it thickens. The result is smooth rather than grainy, so it suits peda and barfi better than it suits a danedar-style halwa.
6Actually reducing the milk yourself
Close match
1 liter (about 4 cups) whole milk reduces to roughly 150 to 200 g khoya
The real thing, and the only version that is genuinely correct.
What changes
Best for
gulab jamun, peda, any sweet where texture is the point
Simmer whole milk in a wide heavy pan over medium-low heat, scraping the sides and bottom constantly with a flat spatula, for forty-five to sixty minutes until it thickens into a soft mass that pulls away from the pan. It is slow and you cannot walk away from it, but nothing else gives the same silky, slightly chewy body. If a sweet has ever failed on you with a milk powder shortcut, this is why, and this is the fix.

What is Khoya?

Khoya is whole milk simmered down until almost all the water has evaporated, leaving a dense pale mass of milk solids with a faintly caramelized flavor; it is also spelled khoa, sold widely as mawa, and it forms the base of most Indian sweets.

Cooking tips

Khoya is doing three things in a sweet: it is fat, it is milk protein giving structure, and it is a cooked-milk sweetness that no fresh dairy product has. That last one is why raw milk powder mixed with milk tastes chalky and slightly wrong. Heat any shortcut version for at least thirty to forty seconds before using it, which starts the browning reactions and closes most of the flavor gap.
Whatever you cook it in, do not let it catch on the bottom. Scorched milk solids turn bitter in a way that no amount of sugar or cardamom will mask, and it ruins the whole batch. Use a heavy or nonstick pan, keep the heat low, and scrape the base constantly with a flat-edged spatula.
There are two textures of khoya and Indian recipes assume you know which. Soft chikna or batti khoya is smooth and mashable and is what you want for gulab jamun and peda. Danedar khoya is granular and is what you want for kalakand and some halwa. Ricotta naturally makes the granular kind, milk powder naturally makes the smooth kind, so pick your substitute to match the sweet.
Skim milk powder makes a noticeably drier and tighter khoya than full-fat. If that is all you have, add an extra teaspoon of ghee per cup of powder, otherwise a gulab jamun made from it will crack in the oil.
It freezes well for about three months, tightly wrapped, and thaws in the refrigerator overnight. Making a double batch of the milk-reduction version and freezing half is how most home cooks manage festival baking.

Frequently asked questions

Are khoya and mawa the same thing?

Yes. Khoya, khoa and mawa are three names for the same ingredient, reduced milk solids, and which word gets used depends mostly on region. Some Indian recipes also just call it milk solids or dried evaporated milk solids in English. If a recipe asks for any of these, all of the substitutions here apply.

Can I leave khoya out of gulab jamun?

No, because in gulab jamun the khoya essentially is the dough. Take it out and you have flour and baking soda, which fries into something closer to a doughnut than a jamun. If you have no khoya and no milk powder, crumbled paneer kneaded with a little flour is the nearest you can get. This is one of the genuine cases where the ingredient cannot be skipped.

What is the best khoya substitute for gulab jamun specifically?

Full-fat milk powder with ghee and a little warm milk, plus a spoon of fine semolina or maida for structure, rested fifteen minutes before shaping. Milk powder versions can go dense or crack in the oil, and the two fixes are enough fat and enough rest: knead until the dough feels slightly greasy under your palm, and let the flour hydrate before you roll the balls. Fry on medium-low, since too hot an oil cooks the outside and leaves the center raw.

Is khoya sweet on its own?

No, plain khoya is unsweetened. It tastes rich and mildly milky with a caramel edge from the long cooking, and all the sugar in an Indian sweet is added separately. This matters when you substitute, because sweetened condensed milk versions bring a lot of sugar with them and you have to pull sugar out of the recipe to compensate.

Can I use ricotta instead of khoya without cooking it down?

Not really, because ricotta is around three-quarters water and khoya is almost none. Used straight it makes a halwa soupy and a barfi that never sets. Cooking two cups down to one takes twenty to thirty minutes over low heat and is the whole point of the substitution. If you are short on time, milk powder is the better shortcut.

Related substitutes

More dairy substitutes

Khoya substitute

Other khoya substitutes

2Whole-milk ricotta, cooked dry

3Crumbled paneer with milk powder

4Sweetened condensed milk cooked with milk powder

5Evaporated milk with milk powder

6Actually reducing the milk yourself