Angoori Ras Malai-- Sweet Milk Balls in Thick Milk Pudding.

 Hello Dearies!! A sweet treat for you today, is what I bring to you. I love Ras malai. That is my go to sweet when I am happy or sad. It is something about the way the ras gullah and the rabdi melts in your mouth. I am all for quick take on traditional recipes.I managed doing this in less than couple of hours. Why do you ask did I make it out of  a blue moon, with no special days or celebrations in sight?  We visit a Sai Temple here in NJ on most Sundays for evening Aarti. This Sunday we missed and landed for the Monday Arti. The Priest had cleaned the temple fridge and was over stocked with Whole milk. He distributed those gallons of Milk as prasad. Oh Boy!!! What to do now, cannot say NO to Gods offering, and cannot drink the whole-fat Milk nearing expiration date. So I thought will make Paneer and finish the milk and use it as per my need. Bingo!! Thats what I will do, I picked the small Half Gallon can of milk and came home thinking of a set plan of making paneer.

Result- Man Proposes God Disposes. I am not good at making paneer so thought will check some video on making paneer, and my search landed on a popular maarthi TV show Aamhi Saare Khavvaye, where some celebrity was showing how to make Angoori Rasgullah and Rabdi. The way she showed was super easy and do able even for me. She added food colors to make her Angoori colorful. I added a dash of Rose Syrup to mine. The end result was not the color I expected, I wanted it to be baby pink, it became a tad too baby for me. Nonetheless, it got thumbs up from munchkin and big smile from Donut. Mr. Ash always finds room for improvement.

Ras Malai is  a royal sweet royal as in it is rich and high calorie food. So if you are watching your weight, stop reading now and go on to the soup section. This cannot be made low fat as it would lose out on its characteristic. The only consolation I can give you is to make the ras gullah like angoor or small balls instead of the big ones, so you can eat one and feel good about it. Rest all as I say, Indulge intelligently and eat good, After all you have only one life to live. Eat well live well.

You will need;

to make Paneer for Rasgullah 

1 ltrs or 16 oz Whole Milk
3 tbspn White Distilled vinegar
Cloth to strain and tie the milk

Boil 1 ltr milk. When it comes to a slow boil, reduce heat and start adding the vinegar tbspn by tbspn. I needed 3 tbsps to get the milk to tear and the whey to separate.When the whey and the milk solids separate, drain the solids in a cotton cloth and save the whey. This whey can be used for other recipes. I will post few as and how I use it.  Wash the milk solids to remove the sourness from the vinegar, squeeze the cloth with the milk solids and remove as much water out as possible. Tie it around the cotton cloth and keep weight over it to form a cheese ball. Once set for 2-3 hrs the paneer is ready to be used.

Making Rasgullah

Take the paneer and crumble it and knead it. Add 2 tbspn conf sugar and 2 tbspn Rose syrup, and knead into a very soft ball. The paneer should be kneaded till there are no wrinkles in it and it is so soft that the balls are markfree. I kneaded the paneer for 12 mins. I got around 25-25 small balls.

You will need;

Paneer from 1 ltr Milk-As Above
5 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 tspn kewra Water-Optional

In a pan take 5 cups water and add 1 cup sugar to make syrup. When the syrup comes to a small boil, start adding the rolled paneer balls over the boil, take care that the pan is big enough and they have enough room to swim and not break. The balls will grow bigger a sand how they cook. Cover and let cook on low heat for 8-10 minutes. The ras gullahs are ready. Add in a tspn of kewra water to the syrup for essence.

Making Rabdi

3/4 ltr Whole Milk
1 cup Sugar
2tbspn Mava Powder- Khoya
4 tbspn Corn Flour
1 tspn Cardamom powder
Nuts Powdered, or Everest Milk masala.-Optional

In a pan take 1/2 ltr milk and boil it on slow heat. In anr bowl take the 1/4 ltr milk, add in the khoya/mava powder, corn flour and the sugar and stir well, till the corn flour and the milk powder are lumpfree. Add this to the 1/2 ltr milk and mix well. Stir continuously, burnt milk is a disaster to clean and make the rabdi smell bad. The corn flour is  a cheat to make the rabdi, but in this fast paced life, little cheat is doable. The Milk will thicken in about 10-12 mins. Switch off the flame and stir for another 5 mins. The Rabdi is ready. I flavoured it with kewra water to tie the Rasgullah and the rabdi together.

Assembling
In a serving dish, take 2-3 angoori rasgullah Squeeze out as much sugar syrup out as possible, , and add the rabdi till they are well coated. Chill for 2-3 hrs. The colder they get better they taste. Or Alternatively add in the rasgullahs to the rabdi and chill all of them. Whichever way you serve them, serve chilled to enjoy full tastes.