Ras Malai ..the name is enough to work up a craving. This sweet delicacy has its origins in Bengal and now a popular Indian dessert features in all important occasions like weddings and important functions.
This recipe has both instructions for making Rosogollas and rasmalai.
Though a feat to find an appropriate English name. the preparation of this sweet heaven in the mouth dessert is such a breeze.
Rasmalai is a Bengali dessert consisting of soft paneer balls immersed in chilled creamy milk. Like Rasgullas, Rasmalai is also made with homemade cheese known as “paneer” or “chenna”. Instead of being soaked in sugar syrup like Rasgullas, Rasmalai is soaked in sweet, flavored milk.
This is the longer version but I personally feel this is also less time consuming and you hardly notice if you can start the preps while you are busy cooking something else as I normally do.
description of the collage :

1. Crumbled paneer if using store bought paneer, which helps to give a smooth disc/rosogollas.

2. .make a smooth ball

3. Kneading well with heel of the palm.

4. .shaping into smooth firm balls and Paneer balls dropped in the hot sizzling sugar syrup in a heavy vessel.

5. This is the open pot cooking, where the small balls are dropped in the hot sugar syrup.

6. After cooking for some time in the vessel the paneer patties/ Rosogollas would have swollen in size. This is the stove top method..In this method the sugar syrup need to be constantly monitored and little water added as the syrup thickens , the sugar syrup must also be frothy continuously. I recommend the pressure cooker method which is far mor easier.

7. Rasgollas are now cooked and swollen in the open pan method .

8. Rasgollas are ready in the pressure cooker method . description is given below .

9. Delicious ras malai prepared from rasgollas . Here both rasgollas and rasmalai is prepared in one method .

To make rosogollas with the pressure cooker method.

( see collage above ) First keep the sugar syrup ready and boiling vigorously in a vessel on the gas while you start making the small balls of paneer.

In another burner, keep a pressure cooker ready, heated, while you have finished with the kneading of paneer dough and start making small smooth balls of paneer.

knead the paneer to a smooth non sticky ball, knead by rubbing along with heel of your palm, see the pic to see the grains of the paneer. Soon the paneer will come together and your hand will become little greasy as the fat is released from rubbing the paneer.

Take a small pinch of paneer and rub against the board to check. Shape the paneer balls in a smooth manner without making cracks. Keep them aside till all the balls have been made.

Remember the paneer balls will swell in size so make sure to choose a broad vessel to accommodate them or make in small batches.

Drop all the paneer balls in the vessel with the hot sizzling syrup which you kept on the flame and keep that vessel in the heated pressure cooker.

This is a very important tip to bear in mind. Instead of heating a cooker pan directly placing the balls in the cooker body, better to keep in a sugar syrup vessel, in the cooker .
This hot vessel with boiling sugar syrup along with the dropped balls of paneer to be placed in the preheated cooker.

After 1 whistle depending on the cooker type, reduce flame and let it cook for 3 more minutes, remove the cooker from the stove, and keep in the kitchen sink.,pour cold water on the cooker till it is cooled completely.

Remove the rosogollas which would have swollen in size, cooked perfectly from the cooker body. Now drop them in a thicker sugar syrup that you prepare separately with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water .

After dipping them in the sugar the rosogollas are ready to be chilled in the fridge. Serve chilled.

Complete Recipe for both Ras malai and rosogollas

Ingredients: 

For Rosogollas

5 cups milk

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 cups sugar.,
4 cups water
Additional syrup for dipping rosogollas after they are removed from the cooker.
1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water to make a little thicker syrup.

Ingredients for the thickened creamy milk sauce

3 cups of milk ( full cream if you wish)
2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar (adjust to your taste)

Pinch of cardamom

1 tablespoon sliced almonds and pistachios to garnish.

Method: To prepare the paneer/ chenna for both rosogollas and rasmalai

Paneer making in steps summarised.

1. First mix lemon juice in half a cup of hot water and keep aside.

2. Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed over medium-high heat. Stir frequently so that the milk doesn't burn.

When the milk comes to a boil, add the lemon juice slowly and stir the milk gently. The milk will start to split and the curd will separate from the whey. Switch off the gas.

When the fat has separated from the whey, drain using a cheesecloth or muslin cloth. Save the whey for other uses like kneading chapati dough.

5. Wrap the curd in a cheese cloth, rinse under cold water, drop some ice cubes to stop the heat. and squeeze well. This will remove the sourness from the lemon.Keep squeezing out as much water as possible and then hang it on a tap or a door handle till water completely drains off.

6. To take out the excess water squeeze the cloth, or press the wrapped paneer under a heavy object like a stone for about one hour. I usually place a heavy bottomed pan on top of the cloth and it drains well and gives a good slab of firm paneer. This method is good for making paneer cubes .

7. To check if sufficient water is out of the paneer, take a little piece of paneer on your palm and rub with your fingers. After rubbing the paneer , you should be able to make a firm but smooth ball.

8. If the paneer is too dry, add a few drops of water, using the water squeezed from the paneer.

I prefer to keep the paneer in the fridge for 15 minutes for it to chill well and will be easy to handle.

9. Once the paneer is drained, place on a dry, clean surface and knead the paneer for 3-4 minutes until the paneer is rolled into smooth soft dough.

How to make Ras Malai

Take out the cooked paneer balls/ Rosogollas from the syrup and squeeze them lightly,and keep aside to make rasmalai.

To make the rabdi/ thickened sweet saffron infused milk sauce.
Bring the milk to a boil in a deep, thick-bottomed non-stick pan on high heat Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring, till it reduces to three-fourth its original volume. Scrape off the cream that will collect on the sides. Let it cook for few minutes. Add the cardamom and mix in. Garnish with sliced almonds and pistachios and strands of saffron. Serve the Rasmalai chilled.

 Notes.

For stove top cooking method of paneer balls.

1. If you are preparing sugar syrup in an open vessel, then collect the scum which floats on top after the sugar dissolves. 2. When the syrup begins to boil add the paneer balls . Add some flour-water mixture. About half teaspoon of flour mixed with water will be sufficient. The syrup will froth.

3. Keep agitating the syrup so that the balls do not stick to the bottom of the pan.

4. Slowly drizzle half a cup of water along the sides of the pan every few minutes so that the syrup does not thicken.
Continue cooking for fifteen minutes or till the paneer balls spring back when pressed. Handle with care as they are still fragile and likely to crumble.
Ras malai can also be prepared by using store bought cottage cheese or Ricotta.Ras malai tastes best when served chilled.

Watch the video below to see how we can make yummy rasmalai or rosgollas with milk powder too .

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