Rasamalai Sweet Recipe | Indian Famous Sweets

Rasamalai or Ras Malai is a famous Indian sweet made with soft cheese and soaked in rich flavoured milk. My husband's most favourite sweet and also the first sweet we served him after engagement. I made this for him on Valentine's day and he loved this soft, sugary, milk rich dessert served chill with badam pista topped. 

****The colours of the pictures may vary as the recipe was prepared in night light with a different camera and the final picture in daytime with a different camera. 
RASAMALAI RECIPE

Recipe Category: Indian
Preparation Time: 2 hours Cooking Time: 1 hour  Serves: 6

Ingredients:

For Homemade Paneer:
Milk - 1 litre
Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Water - 2 tbsp
Ice Cubes - 4 cups

For Rabdi/ Rabri:
Milk - 1 litre
Saffron Strands - 3 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Badam - 2 tbsp, finely grated
Pista - 1 tbsp, finely grated
Turmeric Powder / Food Colour - pinch (Instead of Saffron) ***I have not used

For Sugar Syrup:
Water - 6 cups
Sugar - 2 cup *** sweetness can be adjusted but the syrup should be thin for rasagullas to cook. 
Cardamom Powder  or Rose Essence Water - 1 tsp

Notes:

• For preparing paneer, lemon juice can be used instead of vinegar and water. The whey water can be collected and stored for making soft chappathi. 
• Adding ice cubes is a must for preparing rasagulla's with it as ice makes the paneer soft. 
• For the rabdi adding saffron strands gives colour as it cooks. If saffron strands are not available you can use food colour or turmeric powder. 
• For kneading paneer, you can also pulse if a few seconds in food processor. Over kneading makes it oily, so be careful in this method. 
• If the paneer is not kneaded well, it will break when added to the sugar syrup or the cooked rasagulla will be hard inside.
• If the paneer is not cooked properly in sugar syrup, it will be hard. 
• If the sugar syrup consistency is not right, the rasagulla won't be cooked inside and also won't absorb the sugar syrup. If the syrup gets thickened, add water so it stays thin while cooking rasagulla. 

Method of Preparation:

For Homemade Paneer/ Soft Cheese:

1. In a heavy wide bottomed pan, heat milk. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and water. 

2. Once milk comes to boiling stage, slowly add a mixture of water and vinegar while stirring the milk with a spatula on the other hand. Milk starts to curdle. Turn off the heat. Keep stirring till you see a greenish colour whey water and the chenna/ cheese is fully formed. 

3. Remove the pan to a flat surface, add ice cubes to stop the heat. Let it sit for a couple of minutes. 

4. Line a strainer with a cheesecloth and pour the mixture. Chenna / paneer is collected. Squeeze the water out and bring the edges of the cheesecloth to the centre to tie in a pipe. Let it hang for 1 hour maximum. 

For Rabdi/ Rabri:
5. In a heavy wide bottomed pan, heat milk. As it reaches the boiling point reduce the heat to low and keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the bottom and sides. Add saffron strands which gives colour to the milk. Another Way: At this stage, remove some milk from the pan to a bowl. Add food colour or turmeric powder and let it sit aside. 

6. As the milk reduces and starts to thicken, add sugar. The rabdi/rabri used in rasamalai is slightly thinner which is to be absorbed by rasamalai so you can remove from heat before it thickens much. Add sliced badam and pista's. 

7. After 1 hour, the soft paneer/chenna is collected without water. Place the cheesecloth collected with paneer over a cloth. Next, cover the cheesecloth paneer with the cloth. Rub the cloth with the palm nicely so the paneer inside the cheesecloth is kneaded well. Do till the paneer becomes soft and smooth for about 5 minutes. 

Make walnut sized balls and then flatten them with the palms. It should not be loose and fall apart. It should not have any cracks. Knead again if it falls apart and cracks are present. Make the balls and keep it ready. 

For Sugar Syrup:
In a pan, heat water and let it comes to a boiling point. Add sugar. Once the sugar water comes to bubbling heat ( as in pic), gently drop the flattened balls one by one. 

8. Cover the pan and let it cook for 5 minutes. It grows in size. Then open and put in medium heat. 

9. The rasagullas is cooked and fluffed up. Remove from heat and let the rasagullas be soaked in sugar syrup for 30 minutes. Next, you should take one piece and squeeze the water out using the back of a spoon by gently pressing. Finally, You should add this to the prepared rabdi and let it cool for 2 hours minimum before serving. 

Serving Suggestion:

Serve chilled with nuts and saffron topped. 

Sending this to Remmy's Kitchen!!!