Peda () or Pera is a sweet dish hailing from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

. It originated from

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the to ...

, Uttar Pradesh, India. Usually prepared in thick, semi-soft, its main ingredients are khoa, sugar and traditional flavorings including

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

seeds,

pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other spe ...

nuts and

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma (botany), stigma and stigma (botany)#style, styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly ...

. Its colour varies from a creamy white to a caramel colour. The word ''peda'' is also generically used to mean a sphere of any doughy substance such as

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many c ...

or ''khoa''. Variant spellings and names for the dessert include ''pedha'', ''penda'' (in Gujarati) and ''pera''. Pedas originated in the city of

in the present-day

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. The

Mathura Peda Mathura peda is a North Indian sweet dish that originated from Mathura in India. In North India sweets prepared from mawa (khoya) are very popular and the peda is also a mawa sweet variety. Mathura peda is so famous in North India that the ter ...

is the characteristic variety from the city. From Uttar Pradesh, the peda spread to many parts of the Indian subcontinent.

Thakur Thakur may refer to: * Thakur (title), a feudal title and surname used by erstwhile nobility of India * Thakar (tribe), an Adivasi tribe of Maharashtra, India * Thakur village, a residential locality in Mumbai, India * Thakur Anoop Singh (born 198 ...

Ram Ratan Singh of

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divisio ...

who migrated to Dharwad (in the present-day

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

) in the 1850s introduced pedas there. This distinct variety is now famous as the Dharwad pedha. Kandi Peda from Satara in Maharashtra is another variety of peda.13 products have potential for GI registration
/ref> Dood peda, made famous by the Nandini Milk Co-operative in Karnataka, is another popular variety. As with laddoos, pedas are sometimes used as prasadam in religious services. File:Kesar Peda.jpg, Kesar Peda with Garnishing of Pistachio and Cardamom File:Peda Makers of Bokakhat.jpg, Peda Makers at Bokakhat, Assam, India. Bokakhat is famous for its Peda Industry

References

Indian desserts Uttar Pradeshi cuisine Gujarati cuisine Nepalese cuisine Confectionery Guyanese cuisine Fijian desserts {{dessert-stub