Ras Malai
A home-style recipe for Ras Malai. Makes about 14 pieces, ready in about 75 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 litre full-cream milk, for the chenna
- ¾ cup (180 g) yogurt, whisked
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, if needed
- 1 tsp cornflour (optional)
- For the syrup: 1 cup (200 g) sugar, 4 cups water
- 1 litre full-cream milk, for the ras
- ⅓ cup (65 g) sugar, for the ras
- 4 green cardamoms, crushed
- A pinch of saffron (optional)
- 2 tbsp pistachios (pista), sliced
Missing something?
- No milk? Use milk powder mixed with water, or diluted tinned milk.
- No sugar? Use jaggery (gur) or honey, added gradually.
- No yogurt? Use milk with 1 tsp lemon juice, rested 10 minutes.
- No pistachios? Use almonds or cashews.
Method
- Start the ras: boil the second litre of milk in a wide, heavy pan and simmer on low heat for 30–35 minutes, stirring often, until it drops to about half. Add the ⅓ cup sugar, cardamoms and saffron and cook for 5 minutes. Keep it aside.
- Meanwhile, bring the first litre of milk to a boil. Turn off the heat and stir in the yogurt. It should split into soft white curds and clear, greenish water. If it doesn't, add the lemon juice.
- Pour it into a cloth over a sieve and rinse with cold water. Squeeze gently and hang for 20 minutes, until the chenna is moist but not wet.
- Knead the chenna with the cornflour on a plate with the heel of your hand for 5–7 minutes, until smooth and slightly greasy.
- Shape into about 14 smooth balls with no cracks and flatten them into 4 cm patties.
- Boil the sugar and water for the syrup in a wide pan. Slide in the patties, cover and cook on medium heat for 12–15 minutes; they will double in size.
- Lift them out, cool for a minute and press each one gently to squeeze out some syrup. Put them in the ras and top with the pistachios.
- Chill for at least 4 hours before serving, so they soak up the milk.
Tip: The chilling isn't included in the time. Keep the pan big; the patties need room to swell.