Kesar Ras Malai

One of the most popular sweets from the land of Bengal, Ras Malai or Rosh Molai does not need any introduction. The juicy and melt-in-mouth cottage cheese balls dipped in a thick and flavorful sauce of milk makes for an excellent treat during festivals and other auspicious/special occasions in India.

Well! the most crucial part of this traditional sweet lies in making the cheese balls, which can be a daunting process at first but once you get the hang of it, you would not be able to resist yourself making this dessert time and again....and not to explicitly mention, this is what exactly happened with me; I tried making Ras Malai a couple of times in the past but, it always came out a disaster with cheese balls always turning out hard and not absorbing the milk even when kept in the same overnight.

So, it was only last week that my perseverance to make these little sweet balls to a perfection paid successful results; it won't be an exaggeration to say that me and my husband finished all the ten ras malais in just a single day as they were so soft, melt-in-mouth and with perfect sweetness. So, here is my fool proof recipe and tips for you to make the Ras Malai in the comfort of your own home kitchens. Do try it out and don't forget to leave your comments in the section below the page.

Kesar Ras Malai

Ingredients

For Rasgulla -

• Full fat milk (preferably cow's milk) or you can use Amul toned milk - 2 litres
• Maida/APF - 1 to 2 tsp
• Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Water 5 to 6 cups

For Milk Syrup (Rabdi) - 

• Full fat milk - 1 litre
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Saffron strands (soaked in 2 tbsp of warm milk) - a few
• Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
• Chopped nuts (pistachios, almonds, cashews, chironji) - 1/4 cup
• Rose water (optional) - 1 to 2 tsp

Few Tips for Soft Chhena (Cheese) Balls

• Try to use full fat cow's milk. If using buffalo milk, go for toned milk - I used Amul's fresh toned milk
• Instead of lemon, use diluted white vinegar or use the whey to curdle the milk. Leftover water that remains on straining the chhena is called whey. Whenever I make paneer/chhena at home, I always store it in my fridge to use it the next time.
• While cooking the chhena in sugar syrup, it is always important to take a wide-mouthed and deep vessel so that balls can properly grow in size.
• Let the sugar syrup come to a rolling boil, then only drop the cheese balls in the same; this would ensure your chhena balls don't turn out hard. 
• Let the cheese balls dip in the thickened rabdi (milk sauce) at room temperature for about an hour. This will ensure chhena balls to nicely absorb the milk.  
• The rabdi in ras malai is more thinner in consistency than a normal rabdi so, reduce the milk only to about 3/4 its original quantity.

P.S. - From the texture itself in the pictures you can make out how soft my Ras Malai turned out.

Kesar Ras Malai

Method

1. Start by boiling 2 liters of milk. When it is boiled, switch off the flame and let its temperature come down for about 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Mix lemon juice with some water and add it little at a time until the milk is nicely curdled and cheese is separated from the whey.
3. Line a strainer with a cheese or muslin cloth and strain the chhena. Wash it with fresh water once to get rid of sourness. Gather the sides of the cloth and squeeze out all the water from the cheese; hang it on your kitchen tap for about 1 hour so that all the excess moisture is drained out.
4. After 1 hour, in a deep and wide vessel, add 1 cup of sugar and 5 to 6 cups of water. Switch on the flame and let it come to a rolling boil.
5. In the meanwhile, take out the chhena from the cloth, add about 1 tsp of maida and start kneading it with the heals of your palm. Knead it till it gets smooth and comes together in form of a dough.
6. Pinch out lemon sized balls of the dough, roll them into smooth balls and flatten out a little to shape into discs. Ensure there are no cracks else they may break while boiling.
7. Drop them one by one in boiling sugar syrup. Close the lid and let them cook for about 26 to 27 minutes.
8. While the chhena balls are cooking, prepare the rabdi or the thickened milk.
9. In a heavy bottom pan, boil the remaining one liter milk and let it simmer until it is reduced to 3/4th. Once it is reduced, add chopped nuts, cardamom powder, soaked saffron and sugar.
10. Switch off the flame once the milk comes to a boil after adding sugar. Transfer it into a deep bowl and add a tsp of rose water. Let it come down to room temperature.
11. By this time, chhena balls would also have cooked. Transfer them to another bowl with some sugar syrup. Let them also come to room temperature.
12. Squeeze out the syrup from the cheese balls and dip into the milk sauce. Let sit on the counter for about an hour so that sauce gets absorbed by the chhena balls. After an hour, pop in the fridge to chill for another 4 to 5 hours.

Kesar Ras Malai

Other Traditional Indian Sweet Recipes You May Want to Try.....

• Winter Special - Dry Fruits Besan Laddoo 
• Bengali Sponge Rasgulla
• Chocolate Malai Peda
• Gurudwara Karah Prashad
• Aamrakhand - Mango Shrikhand
  

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- Anshu