Ras Malai

Ras malai has been one of my favorite desserts since I was little. There is a very old sweet shop very close to my house in India. I used to love going there and eating ras malai in the summer. However, this dish was quite expensive and we couldn’t eat it every other day. This probably added to the it’s charm. After I moved to the US, I couldn’t find this childhood favorite anywhere. When I could get it, it wasn’t as amazing as I remembered. There was no other choice but to make it at home.

The dish is said to have originated in the Indian state of West Bengal. This is a milk based dessert, with hints of cardamom. It’s mildly sweet with pillowy sponges of chena (similar to paneer). It requires very few ingredients and the process is also quite easy. The trick is making sure the chena turns out perfect. There hasn’t been a time when I bombed this dish, not even the first time. That should tell you how easy it is!

Servings: 4, Prep time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 2 hours plus cooling time

Ingredients

For the chena discs

• Whole milk (full fat) 1 liter/ 33 fl. oz
• White vinegar or lemon juice 2 tbsp
• Corn starch (corn flour) 1/2 tsp

For the sugar syrup

• Water 3 cups
• Granulated white sugar 1 cup
• Cardamom powder 1 tsp

For the rabdi or thickened milk

• Whole milk (full fat) 1 liter/ 33 fl. oz plus 2 tbsp
• Saffron strands (kesar) 4-5 (optional)
• Sugar 1/3 cup
• Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
• Chopped nuts (I used almonds) 1/4 cup

Instructions

1. Heat 1 liter of whole milk till it’s almost boiling, then take it off the heat
2. Add the lemon juice or vinegar and stir till the milk curdles. You can heat the mixture gently to encourage curdling, but do not let it boil.
3. Layer a cheesecloth or a thin napkin on a large sieve. Strain the curdled milk through this. This is our chena.
4. Rinse the chena in cold water till cool enough to handle. Then squeeze out as much water as you can. Tie the chena in the cheesecloth, place it in the sieve and put some weight on it. Let it drain for an hour or so. There should be no dripping water in the chena when we start making discs
5. Add the saffron strands to 2 tbsp milk in a bowl and set aside to infuse.
6. In the meantime, prepare the rabdi. Add 1 liter milk and 1/3 cup sugar to a shallow pan. Start cooking on medium heat stirring occasionally.
7. Once a skin starts to form on the surface, stick the skin to the sides of the pan. Repeat this till the milk has reduced to 1/2 the original quantity.
8. Add 1/2 tsp cardamom powder, the saffron infused milk and the chopped nuts to the reduced milk. Mix and set aside to cool
9. Once the chena is dry, start making the sugar syrup. Combine 3 cups of water, 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp cardamom powder in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it cook uncovered for 10 minutes
10. In the meantime, remove the chena from the cheesecloth onto a plate. Add the corn starch and knead for 10-15 minutes with the heel of your palm till smooth and soft. Divide into 12 parts and shape into small discs
11. Add these discs to the sugar syrup, cover and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.The discs should swell to almost twice their size and float to the top.
12. Switch off the heat and rest covered for another 10 minutes. Do not uncover the pan before the resting time is over.
13. Remove the discs from the syrup using a slotted spoon and squeeze gently. This will remove the syrup and prep the discs for absorbing the rabdi.
14. Add the discs to the cooled rabdi and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4-6 hours.
15. Add three chena discs to a bowl and top with rabdi. Sprinkle some chopped nuts on top if you want and enjoy!

Unfortunately, this dish is not vegan and I haven’t found a recipe which gets even close to the real thing. If you know of a vegan ras malaai recipe, please let me know in the comments.. As always, let me know how it goes! 😊