Rasmalai- Blog Hop Wednesday

Whenever my daughter is happy..she puts her hands in her pockets and moves it left and right and sings 'Dinka Chika Dinka Chika'...well I was doing exactly the same today after I made this Rasmalai...in one of my posts I have mentioned that I was scared of trying out two things ....'Cheesecake' and 'Rasmalai'.....welllll............ 'Dinka Chika Dinka Chika Dinka Chika';)

This Rasmalai is dedicated to my virtual friend Shireen Sequeira from Ruchik Randhap. reason being....see the new look of my blog...Well Shireen did it. I am technically backward and wanted a change and Shireen offered to help. So Shireen is not only an amazing cook ,she is also  good at designing blogs. But she does not come cheap you see...I had to pay her 1000 virtual hugs:)...so Shireen ....for the last time 'THANK YOU' :)

This week I was paired with Vardhini from Zesty Palette.Vardhini has a vast collection of recipes and I decided on a particular recipe and made  last week and was all set to post it on Wednesday ........ I went through her blog again yesterday and had totally missed out the Rasgulla recipe..I really wanted to try it out...made a few changes...... Rasmalai instead of rasgulla and I halved the recipe and used lemon juice instead of vinegar......and here it is. Ohhh I am feeling so proud.....I just love to challenge myself.... I get this amazing adrenaline rush.....just love it.

Recipe adapted from :Zesty Palette and manjula's Kitchen
Ingredients
Print this recipe

• 4 cups Milk
• 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
• 1/2 cup Hot Water
• 1 1/2 cup Sugar
• 4 1/2 cup Water

for Ras

• 3 cups Milk
• Sugar to taste
• few strands Saffron
• 2 tbsp Pistachios (chopped)

Method

Making Paneer

1.Mix lemon juice and 1/2 cup water in a bowl and keep aside.
2. In a thick bottom non stick vessel heat 4 cups of milk on medium flame. Stir often to avoid burning of milk.

3. When the milk come to boil slowly add the lemon and water mixture.

4. Stir with a spoon gently. The curd will start separating from the whey. Turn off the heat.

 5.Once the milk fat separates from the whey, drain the whey using a muslin cloth or cheese cloth.

 6. Rinse under cold water to cool down the paneer and remove any smell of lemon. Remove excess water by squeezing the cloth and tying it to the tap or press the wrapped paneer under a heavy pan for 1 hour.
7. Removing the right amount of water is secret to soft rasmalai.

 8.To check if the paneer is of the right consistency, take a small amount of paneer and rub it with you fingers ,after rubbing for few second you should be able to form firm but soft balls and little oil would have released.
9. Now knead the paneer for about 10 minutes till a smooth soft dough forms. Knead the paneer hard with your palm.

Making Rasmalai

1. Divide the dough into into equal parts and roll into a smooth ball and press slightly to make patties.

2. Mix sugar and water in a pressure cooker on medium heat and bring to boil.Cooker should be big enough to accommodate the panner balls as they will double in size after they are cooked.
3.Add the panner balls and cover the cooker. After 1 whistle switch off the flame, leave the cooker for 5 minutes. Then place it under running water to cool down the cooker.

4.Open the cooker and remove the paneer ball, squeeze them slightly to remove the sugar syrup. Keep this aside.At this point the rasgullas are ready...time to turn it into rasmalai.

5.Prepare the ras (rabri).Soak saffron in 1/2 cup of hot milk and keep aside.
6. Pour 2 1/2 cup milk into a thick bottom pan and cook on medium low flame till the milk reduces to less than 2 cups. At this point lot of malai would have formed, which I totally dislike so I passed the rabri through a sieve to remove the malai. Pour back the sieved rabri into the same vessel and place on medium low flame. Add the saffron milk and sugar and mix well.
7. Now add the rasgullas into the prepared rabri. let it cook for few more minutes so that the soft balls soaks in the sweet rabdi.
8. Garnish with chopped pistachios. let the rasmalai cool down in room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator before serving.

Sending this to Radhika Tickling Palates

Sending this to Kirtis Kitchen and Denny's Oh Taste and see