Rasmalai .... An Indian Delicacy !

I have not been in the best of health these days. The flu and fever have taken a toll on my health. There are many things that I want to do but the energy levels are so low that I hardly can. Like a ritual I logged into the social networking sites ...... and I could see posts on "Earth Day" and slogans like "Reduce Recycle Reuse .... blah blah blah". Earth Day .... Really !! Like I had the choice of going and living in another planet. It is not about one particular day, rather about what choices we make everyday. I am not against spreading awareness but it is about how much we practice the same.

So one day when the milkman left me few extra packets of milk I decided to make rasmalai from it. It was the first time that I was going to try it. Rasmalai is a very popular indian dessert made from soft cottage cheese and dunked in flavored saffron milk. These are easy to make that if you make it once you kind of get addicted. 

Ingredients 

Milk - 3 liters

Vinegar - 3-4 tsp

Sugar - 1 cups (You can add more sugar to the milk syrup per taste) 

Saffron for garnishing 

Dry fruits for garnishing (Optional)

Method of Preparation 

1. PREPARING THE CHEESE/ CHENNA 

Boil 2 liters of the milk in a heavy bottomed over medium-high heat, stirring frequently making sure that the milk does not burn on the bottom of the pan.

As the milk comes to a boil, add vinegar slowly and stir the milk gently. The cheese will start separating from the whey, turn off the heat.

Once the milk fat has separated from the whey, drain the whey using a strainer line with cheesecloth or muslin cloth.

Wrap the cheese  in a muslin cloth, rinse under cold water, and squeeze well. This process takes out the sourness from the vinegar. To take out the excess water squeeze the cloth, or press the wrapped paneer under a heavy pan for about one hour. Taking the right amount of water out of the paneer is the most important part of this recipe.

To check if enough water is out of the paneer, take a little piece of paneer on your palm and rub with your fingers. After rubbing the paneer for about 15-20 seconds, you should be able to make a firm but smooth ball.

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

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

Knead the paneer by dragging the palm of your hand hard on the paneer. Keep scooping it back to together and knead more. Your palm will be little greasy.

2. MAKING THE RASMALAI

Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll them in smooth balls (It can be more or less depending on the size of the patties you make)

To make the balls apply some pressure at the first and then release when forming the balls, lightly press to make about 3/4″ patty shape. 

Mix half cup of sugar and water in a pressure cooker on medium high heat and bring to a boil.

Add the paneer balls and close the pressure cooker. After the pressure cooker starts steaming, turn the heat to medium and cook for about seven minutes.

Make sure the cooker is large enough to accommodate the finished rasgullas patties, as they will expand to about double in the volume while cooking in the syrup!

Close the heat and wait a few minutes before opening the pressure cooker. Pour cold water over the cooker before opening.

Take out the patties from the syrup and squeeze them lightly,and keep aside.

Boil the remaining 1 liter milk in a frying pan on medium heat until the milk reduce to half. 

Make sure to frequently stir the milk as the milk burns easily in bottom of the pan.

Add the saffron and remaining sugar to it. Stir well.

Add Rasmalai patties in milk. Let it cook for few minutes.

Garnish with sliced almonds and pistachios (Optional)