How to make quick and easy Rasmalai dessert at home- Rasmalai Recipe with a twist

 Quick and Easy Rasmalai Recipe

Know your roots before turning into a tree-

Rasmalai is a dessert originating from the eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent and called by various names such as Rossomalai in Bengali, Rasmalai in Hindi and Rasamalei in Odia language. Though Rasmalai is prepared and consumed worldwide, of these Comilla District in Bangladesh and Kolkata in India are known prominently. The sweet was invented by K.C. Das as claimed by the grandsons. It may be of Bengali origin as claimed by K.C. Das Grandsons but no concrete evidence found till date. It is also a popular dessert in Pakistan. The Sen brothers of Comilla under the "Matri Bhandar" brand also claim to be the original maker of the dessert. Brothers Khanindra Sen and Manindra Sen started the said brand in 1920 and the family has been producing the dessert ever since then. Bangladesh has begun the process of registering Geographical indication (GI) for Rasmalai. According to “The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink” published by Oxford University Press, the term comes from Hindi word ras which means 'juice', and malai meaning 'cream'.

What am I made up of?

Now that you are aware of my origination, let’s discuss what I am made up of. I am basically prepared in two steps. Step one is to prepare malai balls and step two is to prepare the ras or the juice which is meant for dipping or soaking the malai balls into.

For the malai balls, we need-

• 1 liter milk, full cream preferably for best results
• 4 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar as per availability
• 1 teaspoon corn flour
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup sugar

For the ras [juice], we need-

• 500 ml milk
• 4-5 green crushed cardamom pods or use cardamom powder can be used as an alternative
• A pinch of saffron
• 3-4 tablespoons sugar
• chopped pistachios

 This generally serves 6-8 people approximately.

How am I prepared?

Method of preparation of malai balls-

Step I:

Take milk in a heavy base pan. Bring it to boil and switch off the flame. Add 1/2 cup of water to bring down the temperature little bit. Add lemon juice drop by drop post 5-10 min until milk curdles. Adding lemon juice in extremely hot milk will result in softer malai balls which might break while soaking in the ras or juice.

 Step II:

Drain the water and collect the malai in a separate vessel with the help of a strainer. Rinse under running tap water tap water to remove traces of lemon juice. Leave it to rest for 10-15 min. Squeeze the curdled malai with the help of your hands to remove extra moisture but make sure it is not completely dry. Extremely dry malai will not bind together properly to give perfectly soft malai balls.

Step III:

Add corn flour and mash the malai till finely mixed. Make small malai balls of round or oval shape as per your choice. Make sure they are small in size as the size would increase once dipped in ras or juice base.

Step IV:

Bring 1 cup of sugar in 4 cups of water to boil in a big open pan. Add the balls one by one in boiling sugar syrup and cook for 15-20 min. The balls will double in size by now. Take out the balls from the syrup and drop them in fresh water. Make sure the balls sink to the bottom and do not break or float on the surface. If they sink to the bottom, the balls are perfectly done. Make sure the consistency of the sugar syrup is thin throughout and the balls should not stick to the pan bottom. Now that the balls are ready, keep them at room temperature to cool down.

Method of preparation of ras or juice base-

Step V:

Take 500 ml of milk in a heavy base pan. Soak little quantity of saffron in one tablespoon of warm milk and keep it aside. Saffron would impart its color and flavor to the warm milk. Bring the milk to boil, stir occasionally at low flame. Add sugar and mix. The milk will start thickening by now, add soaked saffron and crushed cardamom. Also add finely chopped pistachios(optional). Mix and switch off the flame.

Step VI:

Take out the cooled down rasmalai balls from the fresh water bowl. Squeeze to remove water and flatten lightly using your hands before adding in sugar syrup. Soak for 10-15 min so that they absorb the sugar to the core before transferring them to milk. You can let the balls cool down in sugar syrup itself and then you can skip this step and transfer the balls directly to milk. Now add the balls to the thickened milk. Soft creamy rasmalai is ready to be served.

Enhance my flavors to pamper your taste buds:

Tastes best when served chilled. Garnish with chopped pistachios and saffron before serving.

Nutritional value of Rasmalai:

I have low salt, low sugar, high calcium, high protein and high mineral content. Even diabetics can consume low sugar or no sugar rasmalai once in a while depending on their blood sugar levels.

Every four balls of me contain 330 calories approximately. I have 8.7 g of protein, 33.6g of carbohydrates, 0.1 g of fiber, 13.1 g of fat and 32.2 mg of cholesterol. This constitutes 67% of nutrition value approximately. Remaining 33% comes from vitamins and minerals.

 Twist in the making:

Use chocolate syrup or cocoa powder instead of saffron to make chocolate rasmalai and garnish it with chocolate chips. Some people prefer to add vanilla essence or caramel syrup as per their preferences.

 Quick and Easy Rasmalai Recipe