Ras Malai 🍮 Bengali Style 🇮🇳 (Rasgulla in Saffron Milk)

Description

Soft cottage-cheese patties in silky saffron–cardamom milk — light, floral, and gently sweet 🥛✨.
Hook: Fail-safe method with smooth, crack-free patties + quick rabri ⚡

Ingredients

• Chenna (fresh paneer) & patties
• 🥛 Whole milk: 1.5 L (6 cups / 51 fl oz)
• 🍋 Lemon juice (or white vinegar), diluted 1:1 with water: 30 ml (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🌾 Fine semolina or all-purpose flour (binder): 1 tsp (3 g / 0.1 oz)
• 🧂 Tiny pinch of salt
• Poaching syrup
• 💧 Water: 1 L (4 cups / 34 fl oz)
• 🍬 Sugar: 250 g (1¼ cups / 8.8 oz)
• 🌿 Green cardamom pods, lightly crushed: 3
• Saffron milk (rabri)
• 🥛 Whole milk: 1 L (4 cups / 34 fl oz)
• 💛 Saffron threads, soaked in 1 tbsp warm milk: a pinch
• 🍬 Sugar: 60–80 g (3–4 tbsp / 2.1–2.8 oz), to taste
• 🌿 Ground cardamom: ½ tsp (1.5 g)
• 🌸 Rose water (optional): ½ tsp (2.5 ml)
• 🥜 Pistachios/almonds, chopped (garnish): 2–3 tbsp (20–30 g / 0.7–1 oz)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Make chenna: Bring 1.5 L milk just to a boil. Turn heat low; stir in diluted lemon juice until curds separate. Add 1 cup cold water; strain through a lined sieve. Rinse under cold water and drain 10 min.
2. 2️⃣ Knead & shape: Add semolina and a pinch of salt to the warm chenna. Knead with the heel of your hand 8–10 min until very smooth (no grainy bits). Divide into 16 equal portions; roll crack-free balls and flatten to 1 cm thick discs.
3. 3️⃣ Poach: Boil water + sugar + cardamom in a wide pot. Slip in discs; cover and cook at a gentle rolling boil 12–14 min, turning once, until puffed. Rest 5 min, then transfer patties to a bowl of cold water to stop cooking.
4. 4️⃣ Rabri: In another pot simmer 1 L milk with saffron 12–15 min to slightly thicken, stirring often and scraping sides. Stir in sugar and cardamom (and rose water if using). Cool to warm.
5. 5️⃣ Assemble: Gently press each patty between palms to expel excess syrup. Slide into warm rabri. Chill 1–2 h until set. Serve garnished with pistachios/almonds.

Total Time

🕒 Prep: 25 min

🔥 Cook: 35–40 min

⏳ Total: 60–65 min (+ 1–2 h chill)

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