Making Khoya in Slow Cooker (Crock pot) Recipe

Traditionally Khoya is made by reducing moisture in the milk by 85% at 180 ºF to eliminate boil-over and sticking at the bottom

The slow cooker has two temperature settings Low and High. The Low setting is basically 200º F to maintain food temperature near 185ºF. This setting makes it ideal to make Khoya.

We do have to break one basic rule of slow cooker cooking. The milk reduction is a result of slow loss of moisture via evaporation. We will cook with the lid leaving a gap of about one inch to permit steam to escape.

For this recipe, we will need a six-quart capacity slow cooker.

Ingredients

Whole milk: 1 Gallon

Method

1. On stove top or in a microwave oven heat milk between 180ºF to 190ºF.

2. While heating milk, put about 2 quarts of water in the slow cooker, cover with lid and turn it high for 20 minutes. You are basically preheating the the insert, so that it will not crack. 

3. When the milk has reached, the 180ºF, drain the water out of the slow cooker insert. Transfer the hot milk to the insert.

4. Cover the insert with the lid, leaving about 1" crack. This will allow the steam to escape during evaporation. Turn the cooker to 'Low'

5. Every 30 minutes or so, stir scraping the sides and the bottom. In about three hours, you should have about 5 cups of Chikna Khoya.

Yogi's Notes

1. For higher outputs or to reduce time, you may add dried milk to whole milk before heating it 180ºF.

2. To make Daan-e-daar Khoya, add ½ teaspoon of cream-of-tartar after the milk has been reduced to half.

3. To make Batti Khoya, you will need to reduce Chickna Khoya in a non stick pan on stove top. The slow cooker is efficient with high moisture. Batti Khoya is hard with minimum moisture capable of being grated.