Rasmalai/ Ras malai/ Rossomalai ~~Bengali recipes

A juicy and creamy Bengali delight to give any festival a royal feel, Rasmalai is a rich, refreshing dessert which will leave you smacking your lips wanting more of those flavorful mouthfuls.

The summer this time in Bengaluru is ridiculously hot and I always forget to put the boiled milk in fridge. So, the milk was getting spoiled almost everyday and when I was angry for being so forgetful, my DH was happy eating different homemade Paneer dishes one by one for his rotis. I thought I will make something sweet with all that Paneer and for the first time, he loved something sweet made of sugar. A thumbs-up from your loved one is all you need to feel encouraged and that is exactly what i got for these yummy Rasmalai.

I hardly post any dessert with high calories in my blog and I am feeling good particularly about this one because it was perfect for our weekend lunch with my parents. It was cooling on that hot noon and a treat for my mom whose favorite dessert is Rasgulla.

Making Rasmalai and Rasgullas are actually not as difficult as it seems. I had always avoided making Rasmalai thinking it will be messy and tedious but believe me, it is really easy and interesting. But, I should agree that I am still clueless about what to do with all that left out sugar syrup that is sitting in my refrigerator! (Will try to figure out soon though)

According to Wiki, Ras malai or Rasmalai is a Bengali dessert invented by K.C. Das himself (yet to be verified) and is consumed in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Ras malai is also described as "A rich cheesecake without a crust"and I agree with it. It tastes a lot like cheesecake but richer and very aromatic. Coming to the recipe in this post, I have not flattened the rasmalais and I could not take any pictures of making the Chhena since I had not planned to make Rasmalai. It is very simple actually. Either use already curdled/spoiled milk or add vinegar/lemon juice to a fresh milk, bring it to boil while the solid and liquid separates completely. Pour the boiled mixture on a muslin cloth placed on top of a bowl. Once most of the liquid is drained, knot and tie the cloth, place in a strainer and keep a weight on it till the chhena is drained completely of liquid. It takes about 2-3 hours.

Follow this recipe once you have that dry and fresh chhena or homemade paneer.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	178		Calories
Fat	5.6		%
Carbohydrates	28.3		%
Dietary Fiber	0.1		%
Sodium	79.4		mg
Vitamin A	3.3		%
Vitamin C	0		%
Calcium	8.1		%
Iron	1.4		%
Protein	5.2		Grams
Sugar	28.5		Grams

Ingredients
Chhena/ homemade fresh paneer	100 grams
Water	2 cups
Sugar	1 cup + 1 tablespoon
Cardamom powdered	1/2 teaspoon divided
Milk (full fat)	2 cups
Saffron strands	4 to 5
Almonds and Pistachios	a handful  (less or more)

Knead Chhena for at least 10 minutes until the ball made has no cracks. Divide the chhena into small balls using your palms.

Mix 1 cup of sugar in 2 cups of water and bring it to boil. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, add the rolled balls and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder. Cover and cook for 15 minutes under low flame. If using pressure cooker, remove from flame after 2 whistles. The balls will be doubled in size.

Mix together milk, 1 tablespoon sugar and saffron strands and boil them under low flame until the quantity reduces to half. Keep stirring every few minutes. Remove from flame and add 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder.

Hold each rasgullas on a spoon and press the other spoon to remove all the sugar syrup from the ball. Put the drained ball into milk mixture right away. When all the balls are drained and placed in milk mixture, set it aside to cool completely. Meanwhile slice/chop Almonds and pistachios.

Once the mixture has cooled completely, refrigerate it for about 2 hours or more. Garnish with Almonds and pistachios before serving.

* I have not flattened the rasmalais, it's completely optional.

* The Rasmalais taste best when refrigerated. 

* Kneading the chhena is very important since less kneading will lead to breaking of rasgullas and more kneading will harden rasmalais.

* The quantity of sugar for sugar syrup and milk is optional.