Khoa খোয়া (also called as Mawa or Mewa) is made of either dried whole milk or milk thickened by heating it in an open iron pan (mostly in Northern India) and sold as blocks by weight.
In Bengal, khoa (খোয়া) is called kheer (ক্ষীর), though they differ a bit by their flavour and texture. And khoa is harder than kheer as it has been subjected to evaporation of the water by boiling for a longer period of time.
Traditionally, the Sandesh is prepared with the kheer made by dehydrating the milk through boiling and relentless stirring. However, today no one would be eager to get it that way and has created a shortcut by adding water to khoa available at many nearby sweetmeat shops.
The quality of khoa is better when made from buffalo milk compared to cow milk as the latter is not suitable for sweetmeat preparation because of its moist surface, sticky and sandy texture (except for rosogolla where cow milk chhana which is softer and is the preferred one over buffalo milk chhana). The main reaction in the preparation of khoa is the heat denaturation and coagulation of milk proteins mostly caseins. The process is accelerated by the incorporation of air and the resultant frothing during the stirring. And therefore, incessant stirring holds the key to making a delicious kheer or khoa. The continuous heating at high temperatures like 170 degree Centigrade leads to caramelization and oxidation of the milk carbohydrates like lactose leading to the characteristic brown colouring as well as the nutty taste of the kheer or khoa. Additionally, there is browning where sucrose is added as the sweetening agent where Maillard reaction (complex formation between the proteins and fat at high temperature) occurs leading to further colour change and the characteristic flavour of kheer or sandesh.
This traditional kheer sandesh is the one offered to the deities at the time of puja, as sweets made out of chhana is considered inappropriate for Gods (because chhana is considered spoilt milk). This traditional kheer sandesh is also the one sent as a gift to the groom's family from the bride's family at the time of the marriage ceremony in Bengal.
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