Rasmalai
Rasmalai – soft and spongy cottage cheese patties in dry fruit laced saffron flavored creamy milk rabri. This step by step photo recipe explains how to make Ras Malai at home from scratch with homemade chhena (fresh paneer) and thick milk (rabri) as well as how to make it instantly in just 15 minutes using readymade Rasgulla and condensed milk. No matter which way you are going to prepare, this delicious Bengali sweet cum dessert recipe will become your favorite way to satisfy your sweet cravings.
| Ingredients for Malai Pattie (Chhena Pattie): |
| 1 liter Milk |
| 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice |
| 1½ cups Sugar |
| 4 cups Water |
| For Rabri: |
| 1 liter Milk |
| 3 tablespoons Sugar |
| 1 teaspoon Corn flour (corn starch), optional |
| 10-12 Saffron strands (Kesar), optional |
| 1/4 teaspoon Green Cardamom Powder |
| 2-3 tablespoons chopped Pistachio |
How to Make Instant Rasmalai (Easy Recipe)
Directions:To make it in shortest possible time, we need to use readymade rasgullas and condensed milk to make rabri.
- Take readymade rasgullas and drain excess liquid by pressing each ball gently between two flat spatulas or spoon.
- Make rabri by cooking 1/2 cup condensed milk, 2 cups milk and 10-12 saffron strands until thick and creamy.
- Add drained rasgullas and 2 tablespoons chopped pistachio in cooked rabri and cook for 5-minutes. Instant rasmalai is ready.
- Make fresh paneer (chhena) using 1-liter milk and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Take a clean muslin cloth or cheesecloth and tie chhena in it. Squeeze it gently to remove excess water and hang it over the hook (or tap) for around 30-45 minutes to drain the excess water. – See detailed steps (1 to 5) with photos in this recipe of chhena.
- After about 30 minutes, untie the muslin cloth and transfer chhena to a plate.
- Crumble the chhena with hand. It should be crumbly yet little moist. If it has too much moisture, rasmalai may break while cooking. To remove excess moisture, press chenna gently between paper napkins.
- Mash and knead crumbled chhena with hand until it comes together and turns into dough. Stop kneading when your palm starts to turn greasy – it will take around 5-8 minutes depending on the quality and quantity of chhena prepared from milk.
- Divide it into 12 equal portions. Make a small ball from each portion, press it gently between your palms to flatten it and turn into round pattie as shown it the photo. Pattie should be thick; do not press it too much otherwise it may turn thin from sides and it will break from sides while cooking.
- Take 4 cups water and 1½ cups sugar in a deep pan or in a pressure cooker and start to heat over medium flame. Stir water with spatula to dissolve the sugar completely. When it comes to rolling boil, gently slide all patties (one piece at a time) from the side.
- Cover pan with a lid (if using pressure cooker, remove whistle and rubber ring from the lid and then cover it) and boil for 5-minutes over medium flame. After about 5-minutes, open the lid and flip each pattie gently with a spatula.
- Again, cover with a lid and cook for 7-minutes. Turn off the flame and remove the lid. As you can see, size of the pattie increases to almost double after cooking in sugar syrup. This is due to chhena absorbing the sugar syrup.
- Transfer it gently to a large bowl and let it cool to room temperature for 1-2 hours. After that drain each pattie and press gently between two spoons to remove excess sugar syrup. Be gentle while doing this process as it may break if you apply too much pressure.
- Lets start to make Rabri – pour 1-liter milk in a heavy based pan (thick bottomed pan) and heat it over medium flame. When it comes to rolling boil, reduce flame to low and add saffron strands.
- Stir at regular intervals in between to prevent sticking and cook until its quantity reduces to half; it will take around 15-minutes. You can also cook it over medium flame to speed up the process but make sure that milk doesn’t burn and stick at the bottom of the pan; stir frequently to prevent it from burning. Mix 1-teaspoon of corn flour with 1 tablespoon water and make sure that it doesn’t have any lumps. Add 3-tablespoons sugar, corn flour-water mixture and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder.
- Increase flame to medium, stir continuously and cook for around 3-4 minutes until sugar dissolves. Add drained patties and chopped pistachio.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes. This helps pattie absorb the milk and get the flavor from inside as well.
- Turn off the flame and transfer it to serving bowl. Let it cool to room temperature and then place it in refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours. Serve chilled ras malai as a dessert.
Tips and Variations:
- If possible, use cow’s milk to make rasmalai pattie as it will softer texture.
- Chhena should have right moisture consistency (little moist and not dry) to make perfect pattie.
- You can add crumbled paneer or mawa to thicken the rabri as well as to get authentic chunky texture.
- Add dry fruits of your choice like sliced almonds, cashew nuts etc. for variation.
Taste: Sweet.
Serving Ideas: Serve rasmalai as a sweet dish along with meal or as a dessert after dinner.