Khoya substitutes

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

Best for

peda, barfi, gajar ka halwa, gulab jamun, modak

Rub the ghee into the milk powder with your fingertips first, then add the milk a tablespoon at a time until it holds together like soft dough. Microwave it for forty seconds or warm it briefly in a pan, which develops the gently cooked note that raw milk powder lacks, otherwise the sweet tastes flat and faintly chalky. Use full-fat milk powder if you can find it; skim milk powder gives a drier, tighter khoya, so add an extra teaspoon of ghee.

The closest match in texture, because it is already curdled milk solids.

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.

Firm, workable and forgiving, especially where the khoya has to hold a shape.

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.

Very quick and very sweet, so the recipe has to be rebalanced.

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.

A shelf-stable route with the right cooked-milk flavor built in.

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.

The real thing, and the only version that is genuinely correct.

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.