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