Kharwas Milk Pudding

Kharwas in Marathi

Time: 25 minutes
Makes: 30 to 35 medium pieces (For 7 to 8 persons)

Ingredients:
1 litre colostrum milk (buffalo or cow's colostrum milk) (Read important tip 1)
1 litre normal milk
200 to 250 gram sugar (around 3/4 to 1 cup)
2 pinches saffron
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Big pressure cooker
2 steel containers inside the cooker (Tip 2)

Method:
1) Slightly warm the saffron and add it to 1/4 cup milk. Leave it for 10 minutes.
2) Mix the colostrum milk and normal milk together. Add sugar and stir till sugar dissolves. Check the taste and add more sugar if you want the kharwas more sweet.
3) Add cardamom powder and saffron mixture.
4) Cook this mixture just like we cook rice in the pressure cooker.
Take 2 big steel containers made for pressure cooking. Pour the mixture in the steel containers. Take the pressure cooker. Add around 1.5 inch level water at the bottom. Place 1 container with the help of tong (pakkad). Place a steel plate to cover the container. Then keep the second container and steel plate on top. Close the pressure cooker and cook till 2 whistles. Then turn the heat to low. Turn off the gas after a minute.
After 5 to 8 minutes, the pressure will release. Open the cooker and take out the containers carefully.
Leave the containers uncovered in the open air. When kharwas becomes warm, cut into squares and serve. However, it tastes more delicious if eaten chilled. Put the containers in the refrigerator for atleast 2 hours and then serve.
Kharwas stays good upto a week in the fridge.

Tips:
1) If the colostrum is of first day of the delivery then it requires equal amount of normal milk to make kharwas (for 1 litre colostrum you will need 1 litre of milk)
If you get 2nd day's colostrum, you will need 1 part normal milk for 2 parts colostrum (2:1) (For 1 litre colostrum, use 1/2 litre normal milk)
For 3rd days colostrum, you will need less than 50 % of normal milk (for 1 litre colostrum use less than 1/2 litre milk)
2) Instead of using pressure cooker's container, use steel containers we use to keep chapati. These containers have lids. However, when you cook the kharwas, put a steel plate on top and not the lid. If you put the lid, it will be difficult to bring out the container if the lid is on. Once the kharwas is cooked, take the container out, let it cool down. Then put the lid and into the refrigerator.
3) You can add jaggery instead of sugar. Change the amount of sugar/ jaggery to suit your taste.
4) You may add nutmeg (jaifal) powder instead of cardamom powder.
5) Kharwas creates heat in the body, hence pregnant women should avoid it during pregnancy.