Rasmalai is a classic Indian dessert made with spongy milk curd disks soaked in sweet thickened milk! This Rasmalai recipe has all the easy steps to making the perfect dessert for your Holi celebrations.
Ingredients
For the Rasmalai
- 1½ litre Milk
- ¼ cup (4 tbsp) White Vinegar
- ¼ cup (4 tbsp) Water
- 1½ tsp Cornstarch
Rabdi
- 1 litre Milk
- 1 pinch of Saffron Strands
- 2 tbsp (20 grams) Almonds, slivered
- 2 tbsp (20 grams) Pistachios, slivered
- ½ tsp Green Cardamon Powder
- ½ cup+1tbsp (120 grams) Sugar
- 2 pinches of Salt
- ½ drop Yellow Food Colour
For the Sugar Syrup
- 1 cup Sugar
- 7 cups Water
- 4 Green Cardamons
- 2 tbsp Rose Water
Method
- Add a little water to the bottom of the pot to prevent the milk from burning. Now pour the milk into the pot and let it come to a boil. Once boiling, switch off the heat and stir it for 5 minutes to reduce the temperature of the milk (the temperature of the milk should be about 185F/85C).
- Mix the water with the vinegar and give it a quick stir. Add the vinegar-water mixture in 2 additions, stirring gently between each. Let it sit for a while without mixing so that the vinegar gets a chance to do its magic and curdle the milk. When the whey separates from the milk solids without stirring, you will get bigger bits of milk curd.
- In a sieve, place a cheesecloth (muslin cloth) and pour the curdled milk through it. Once all the whey has strained through and you have only the milk curd left in the cheesecloth, pour in some more cold water to remove any of the vinegar flavour that the milk curd may still have. Use a spatula to lift the milk curd and allow the water to pass through the cheesecloth. When most of the water has drained through the milk curd, catch the ends of the cheesecloth and lift it up out of the sieve. Squeeze the milk curd in the cheesecloth till you have removed most of the moisture in the cheese curd. Wrap the drained milk curd in a clean kitchen towel and leave aside for about 30 minutes so that any excess moisture gets absorbed by the kitchen towel.
- In the meantime, prepare the Rabdi. In a deep pot pour a few drops of water and pour in the milk. Bring the milk to a boil. Now lower the heat and give it a stir, add a few strands of saffron, the slivered almonds and pistachios, and the cardamon powder. Keep stirring gently and once the milk begins to bubble add the sugar, salt, and colour. Now cook for another 5 minutes or so, take it off the heat, and keep it aside. Do not thicken the rabdi too much.
- By this time the milk curd would have rested and drained out any excess moisture. Take it out of the cheesecloth and place it down on a clean work surface or a big plate. Break it up into small crumbs and then using the ball of the palm of your hand, start smoothening the cheese curd. When you finish smoothening it once, if you feel it’s not smooth enough, you could smoothen it out the second time using the same process.
- Add cornstarch to the smoothened milk curd and give it a quick mix so that it gets well distributed in the milk curd.
- To start shaping the rasmalai, divide the milk curd into 12-14 equal bits. Take each bit and roll it between the palm of your hand till you get a smooth ball without any cracks. Now gently put some pressure to flatten the ball and make sure it has no cracks. Continue the process till you have shaped all the rasmalai. Cover them with a damp cheesecloth and set them aside while you prepare the sugar syrup to cook them in.
- To make the sugar syrup, in a deep wide pot add the sugar and water. On medium-high heat, allow the sugar to melt. Now turn the heat to high and once the syrup comes to a rolling boil, add in the rasmalai and cover the pot with a lid. Allow them to cook on high heat for 5 minutes, then lower the heat to medium-high and cook for another 5 minutes. Now turn the stove to high and take off the lid and flip the rasmalai and cook another 5 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and allow the rasmalai to cool completely in the syrup.
- Heat the rabdi just a little and pour it into a bowl. Take the cooked rasmalai out of the sugar syrup and gently squeeze each of them between the palm of your hands to drain out the sugar syrup. Now dunk the squeezed rasmalai in the warm rabdi. Continue the process till you squeeze and add all the rasmalai to the rabdi.
- Now cover and allow them to sit in the milk at room temperature for 5-6 hours, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before enjoying them.
