Rasmalai – Sweetened Milk Dessert with Soft Paneer (Cottage cheese) Dumplings

Rasmalai is a milk-based Indian (Orissa/Odisha) dessert. Translated, ‘Ras’ means Juice and ‘Malai’ refers to a cream made from milk.

Rasmalai is an extension of another sweet dish, Rasgulla. Homemade cheese (paneer) is made into soft, smooth discs and are boiled in sugar syrup. This makes the Rasgulla. In Rasmalai, the disks are squeezed gently and put into a sweetened creamy thickened milk dessert and scented with cardamom and saffron. Nuts are used as a garnish.

               Happy Diwali Everyone!

The trick is to keep the disks smooth and soft and not crumbly in texture.

Scroll down for the Complete Recipe.

Rasmalai – Sweetened Milk Dessert with Soft Paneer (Cottage cheese) Dumplings

You are here: Quick Browse > Desserts > Rasmalai 

Watch the Video or click to read Complete Recipe – Below. 

The Components: It consists of soft, spongy cheese patties or discs soaked in a rich, fragrant, sweet milk.

The Patties (Chhena): These are made from chhena (fresh cheese curd), similar to those used for rasgulla, but they are flattened into small discs. They are first cooked in a light sugar syrup to make them porous and spongy.

The Creamy Milk (Rabri): The sweetened milk, often referred to as rabri, is made by slowly simmering milk until it thickens and reduces. This milk is generously flavored with:

• Saffron (which gives it a beautiful pale yellow color)
• Cardamom
• Pistachios and Almonds (slivered or chopped)

Final Assembly: The sugar-syrup-soaked cheese patties are gently squeezed to remove excess syrup and then submerged in the chilled, thickened, flavored milk to soak for several hours or overnight. This allows the creamy milk to permeate the spongy discs

How to make Rasmalai – Recipe at a glance:

• Curdle the boiled milk to make cottage cheese.
• Hand till all whey is removed.
• Knead and form into flattened balls.
• Cook the dumplings.
• Prepare sweetened milk and add these dumplings.
• Chill till cold.

Ingredients:

For the Rasagulla – Sweet Paneer Dumplings.

• 2½ cups full cream milk
• 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• ½ tsp plain flour
• ½ cup of sugar
• 2 cups of water
• You will need a bowl of ice, a colander and  muslin/cheesecloth

For the Flavored Milk:

• 1½ cups milk
• 1 Tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk
• ½ tsp cardamom powder + some crushed cardamom
• Saffron strands to taste
• 1 Tbsp nuts – Almonds Pistachios as desired

It is recommended that you open the recipe page and keep this page going if you like to WATCH / LISTEN to the video alongside the written instructions.

Key Ingredients: Milk, Sugar, Water, Lime, Cardamom, Saffron, Flour.

EAT AND TELL!!! Let us know if you tried – Rasmalai – Sweetened Milk Dessert with Soft Paneer(Cottage cheese) Dumplings