Indian Malai Peda Protein Balls

4.9 stars, average of 78 ratings

By Ankita Nimbalkar, updated July 18 20215

These delicious Indian-style protein balls are the ideal post-workout snack. Recipe contribution by Ankita Nimbalkar, the creator of KetoWoman91.

Peda is an Indian sweet usually prepared in thick, semi-soft pieces. They are often served as ‘prasadam’ during religious services. Prasadam literally means a gracious gift. It denotes anything, typically food that is first offered to a deity, saint, Perfect Master or an avatar, and then distributed in His or Her name to their followers or others as a good sign.

Pedas originated in the city of Mathura in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The main ingredients are khoa (evaporated milk), sugar and traditional flavorings, including cardamom seeds, pistachio nuts and saffron. The colour varies from a creamy white to a caramel.

To make these delicious pedas keto-friendly, you just need few ingredients. They will be soft and little crumbly when you make them, but firm and full of flavor once refrigerated.

Note: Opt for quality whey or egg white protein isolate (not whey protein concentrate which contains more carbs) and try different flavors (strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, etc).

0 days, 0 hours, 15 minutes

Hands-on 15 minutes Overall 30 minutes

Serving size medium protein ball

Allergy information for Indian Malai Peda Protein Balls

✔ Gluten free

✔ Egg free

✔ Nut free

✔ Nightshade free

✔ Pork free

✔ Avocado free

✔ Coconut free

✔ Fish free

✔ Shellfish free

✔ Beef free

Pescatarian

Vegetarian

Nutritional values (per serving, medium protein ball)

Net carbs1 grams

Protein8.6 grams

Fat4.6 grams

Calories80 kcal

Calories from carbs 5%, protein 43%, fat 52%

Total carbs1 gramsFiber0 gramsSugars0.2 gramsSaturated fat2.9 gramsSodium53 mg(2% RDA)Magnesium2 mg(1% RDA)Potassium117 mg(6% EMR)

Ingredients (makes 20 medium or 25 small protein balls)

400 g ricotta cheese (14.1 oz)
50 g unsalted butter (1.8 oz)
160 g whey protein powder, preferably unflavoured, or vanilla (5.6 oz)
¹/₃ cup powdered Erythritol or any low carb sweetener (53 g/ 1.9 oz), or to taste
1 tsp cardamom powder
butter or ghee for greasing
Optional: 1 tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
Optional: chopped or whole almonds for topping

Instructions

Melt the butter in the pan, keep the stove on low flame.
Add the ricotta cheese and mix with the butter. Keep mixing it till the cheese melts.
Add the sweetener and keep mixing it, ensuring the mixture does not stick to the pan.
Add the protein powder, half cup at a time, until the mixture starts to thicken. Keep stirring ensuring there are no lumps, and add the remaining powder. After 5 minutes of cooking, the mixture gets thick. Add the vanilla essence and cardamom powder and give it a good mix.
Let the mixture cool, so that you can shape them into balls. Grease your palms with butter or ghee and start shaping the lumpy mixture into small balls and pressing them slightly in the middle. You can make 20 medium shaped or 25 small shaped balls according to your own preference.
Optionally, top each ball with chopped or whole almonds. Keep the protein balls refrigerated for up to a week, or freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, let them defrost in the fridge overnight.

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Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, medium protein ball)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Ricotta cheese, full-fat
0.6 g	2.3 g	2.6 g	35 kcal
Butter, unsalted, grass-fed
0 g	0 g	2 g	18 kcal
Whey protein powder (protein isolate, Jay Robb)
0.2 g	6.3 g	0 g	27 kcal
Erythritol (natural low-carb sweetener)
0.1 g	0 g	0 g	1 kcal
Cardamom powder, spices
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Total per serving, medium protein ball
1 g	8.6 g	4.6 g	80 kcal

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Anu 4 years ago # Reply

Oh wow, these are incredible! I made a batch of these last night to celebrate Diwali (which is tomorrow this year) and they were just marvellous, so much like the real thing that I cannot believe this is keto 😊 The only thing I changed was to use salted butter (that's all I had at hand) and to add a few heaped tablespoons of powdered Erythritol and liquid Stevia to the mixture once I took the pan off the job - for an Indian sweet I felt it needed a little more sweetener. I was worried that would change the texture too much to be able to shape them into balls successfully, but I had no problems with that at all. The trick is to do this while it's still slightly warm (as with most Indian sweets like this) and grease your palms well with ghee. Oh and I used Pulsin unflavoured organic protein powder. Thank you SO much for this great recipe, it tastes just like home!

Martina @ KetoDiet 4 years ago # Reply

Thank you Anu, I'm glad you enjoyed!

Shirley 5 years ago # Reply

I made these using Jay Robb Egg White Protein, 1/2 the amount of Swerve with a touch of liquid Now Better Stevia to offset the coolness of Swerve, & included vanilla. It was too crumbly & dry to press or shape into balls while warm or cooled. I may add a little coconut milk to try to bring it together as the ricotta/cardamom is a lovely combination.

Soumik 5 years ago # Reply

I can almost smell the Pedha by looking at it. Another non-keto sweet converted to keto, in style.
Well done, Ankita.

Rahul 5 years ago # Reply

So happy to know even Indian food can be keto-fied with some creativity 🙂