Ras Malai Recipe

Directions

• Method for Rasgulla :-
• First boil milk, stirring after every few minutes as milk tends to stick and burn at the bottom of the pan.
• When milk comes to a rolling boil, turn down the heat to low and slowly stir in the lemon juice. When you’ll see curds and whey separated, turn off the flame.(Whey will be light green in color)
• Take a cheese or muslin cloth and spread it over a mesh or strainer. Now, take a large enough bowl to hold the whey and keep the strainer over it.
• Strain the curd through the muslin cloth and tie it into a small pouch. Now rinse it with cold water to take off all the lemon flavor from the curd.
• After rinsing put it back over the strainer and keep any heavy thing like cast iron pan or mortar over it and let it rest for 1 hour.
• Now take the cheese out from the muslin cloth and keep it in a bowl and knead for few minutes(It takes time if you are doing with your hands) or just put it in a food processor and process it until smooth.
• Divide the cheese into 10-12 equal parts and start making small balls from it. The ball should be smooth with no cracks.( If it cracks that means the cheese needs more kneading)
• In a pressure cooker, mix water and sugar and let it come to a boil. Now put the paneer balls into the syrup and close the lid. Do not overcrowd as the rasgulla tends to grow by nearly twice its size while cooking. Let it cook until one whistle.
• Switch off the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes and then take the cooker to the sink and put cold water over it to cool it down and take the pressure off.
• If you do not have pressure cooker, use ordinary pan and cook rasgulla in a boiling syrup for about 15-20 minutes with lid on. Keep an eye on it as it can boil over.
• Keep aside the Rasgulla with syrup in a bowl for later use.
• Method for Malai / Rabdi :-
• Bring the milk to boil, stirring every few minutes.
• Keep the flame to low-medium and continue stirring until the milk is half of its original volume.
• Add sugar and continue stirring over the flame. Do a taste check to see if you want to add more sweet.
• Take the rasgullah and gently squeeze out the syrup and press to flatten.
• Once the milk is properly reduced, add the rasgulla, saffron milk and crushed Almonds/Pistachios. Keep the heat on for another five minutes on low.
• Remove from heat and add cardamom powder. Pour the contents into a bowl and bring to room temperature and refrigerate.