Recipe Name – Rasmalai

Introduction – Rasmalai is a popular Indian dessert originated from Bengal region. Ras means juice and malai means cream. This lovely sweet dish is prepared using soft fresh cheese called chhena. Soft & spongy rasmalai is loved all over India and is fairly easy to make too. So lets learn how to make Rasmalai today.

What all do we need?

For soft cheese (chhena):

1. ½ liter toned milk
2. 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice
3. ¼ cup water

For Rabdi (rasmalai milk):

1. ½ liter milk
2. 100 gm sugar
3. ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
4. Pinch Saffron or yellow food color
5. Chopped almonds & pistachios

For Sugar Syrup:

1. ½ liter water
2. 100 gm sugar

Method –

1. First we need to make fresh cheese. Boil toned milk and moment it starts boiling, add vinegar & water mix little at a time and milk. Keep your gas low while mixing vinegar mix in the hot milk.
2. Within a few moment, milk will curdle and separate from whey.
3. Strain soft cheese in the muslin cloth or soft cotton cloth.
4. Run cold water on soft cheese while it is still in the muslin cloth to remove the taste of vinegar or lemon used for curdling the milk.
5. Keep soft cheese in the muslin cloth for 20-30 min (in the strainer or hanged) so that excess water can be removed.
6. Let’s start making rabdi for rasmalai now.
7. Keep milk on the gas and let it come to the boil. Then add sugar and saffron and let it thicken up on the medium low flame for some time. Rabdi of rasmali is not very thick, it remains like milk only but yes little thick in consistency as compared to milk.
8. When right consistency of milk is achieved, add cardamom powder, chopped almonds & pistachios and keep it aside.
9. Time to knead the dough for rasmalai.
10. Crumble soft cheese on clean kitchen top and start kneading it. Using palm of your hand, push it away from you & gather back. Keep doing this for 8-10 min to get the dough like consistency. Mix ¼ teaspoon of refined flour or corn flour and knead again. Flour works like a binding agent for rasmalai. This avoids breaking of rasmali while cooking it in the sugar syrup.
11. While kneading a dough you will notice oil oozing out which indicated that you are doing it right.
12. When dough is ready, make small balls or flat patty of the dough. These will be doubled in size after cooking them in the sugar syrup.
13. For making sugar syrup, add sugar in the water and let it come to the boil. Keep gas flame on medium so that sugar syrup keeps boiling and then add cheese dough balls carefully in the water.
14. Cook them for 2-3 min in open and then cover and cook for 7-8 min more. Please note: Sugar syrup should keep boiling not on high flame but on medium to low flame.
15. Now carefully remove them from sugar syrup after lightly pressing them and dip in the rabdi (rasmali milk) prepared before.
16. Keep rasmali in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours before serving.
17. Chilled, soft and spongy rasmali is ready. Enjoy!