Ras Malai - Poila Boisakh Special

I will be honest here. I was planning to make something else for the KFB Poila Boisakh Special event but ended up making this dish by chance. It was just another way in my kitchen to use left overs! I didn't know what to do with a litre of extra milk lying in my fridge, so decided to just thicken it up a little with some sugar and keep it for further use. Then I didn't know what to do with some left over paneer too..the end result? This wonderful home made Ras Malai. I have kept the flavours simple here with just a touch of cardamom.
All those who know me , know that I am a die hard Indian sweet/mishti lover. No matter how much I keep a check on my diet, eat healthy, follow strict regimen, put a ladoo or a sondesh or a gulab jamun in front of me and I am gone! I just cannot resist sweets. So you see this experiment made me very happy. And with Poila Boisakh  (Bengali New Year ) and Bihu around the corner this was well timed I would say. I will be surely making this again soon and treating my friends and family.

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 litre

Paneer - 200 gms -

I used home made paneer/ chenna here. To make 200 gms chenna, bring around a litre of milk to a boil. Add 2 tbsp of lime juice , mix well and let the milk curdle. Drain the chenna/paneer , wash with cold water, drain the water completely and it is ready for use.

Sugar - 4 tbsp + 1 cup

Bay leaves -  2 nos

cardamom/ elaichi powder - 1 tsp

Water - 1 1/2 cup

Method:

First lets make the mini rasgullas/ paneer balls .

In a pan add the water and the sugar and bring it to a boil.

Meanwhile, take the paneer/ chenna and knead it with your hand till its very smooth. This will take about 7-10 mins. Make small balls of it and keep adding to the boiling sugar syrup.

Let the paneer balls simmer in the sugar syrup for around 15 mins , till they become firm.
Remove the rasgullas/paneer balls from the sugar syrup and keep aside to cool.

Next we will thicken the milk and prepare the base of the ras malai. All that you need to so is in a heavy bottom pan , put a litre of milk to simmer  and thicken up. Keep the flame low. Add the bay leaves and cardamom powder , so that the flavours are well infused into the milk. This will take a while, almost 20 -25 mins. Keep stirring once a while so that the milk doesn't burn.

After around 20 mins you will find the milk had just about thicken forming some solids(Malai). At this point add the 4 tbsp sugar, give it a good mix. Add the mini rasgullas/ paneer balls and simmer for 2-3 mins.

Remove from heat and let it cool. Serve chilled.

Notes:

• Its important to knead the paneer/chenna well before making the balls or else they might break off once you put it into the sugar syrup.
• Garnish with crushed pista, casheews or some soaked saffron. I skipped it as my family likes it without any garnish.

I am sending this recipe to the KFB Poila Boisakh Special event.

 

Traditional Bengali Sweet - Kancha Golla (Cottage Cheese Sweet)

I had promised to come up with easy recipes and this cant get any easier. So many times we crave for something sweet and fresh.I almost instantly start dreaming of the fresh chenna sweets we get in those sweet shops in Kolkata..Sen Mahashay is my favourite. They make this wide variety of chenna sandesh that are just the melt in your mouth kinds. This recipe today would be extremely helpful for all my friends settled outside Joletta and who crave for fresh sandesh. Kancha Golla is a chenna (cottage cheese) dumpling mixed with some sugar. Many a times we have a lot of left over milk from the previous day..this is a perfect recipe to use that up. Making cottage cheese at home is very easy too. You just need around a litre of milk and 1 tbsp of white vinegar.
So go ahead friends and enjoy this delicacy, making which is just a breeze.

Ingredients :

Milk - 1 litre ( preferably full cream)

White vinegar - 1 tbsp

Sugar - 4 tbsp (powdered)

Raisins - for garnish

Method:

The first step is to make the chenna (cottage cheese).

For that put the milk on heat , once it starts to boil , reduce the heat and add 1 tbsp of vinegar.

Put  it off the heat and let it rest for 5 mins. You will see the whey separate. Drain the chenna well and keep aside.

To make the gollas(sandesh)

Take the chenna in a wide bowl , mix the sugar and knead very well till you get a smooth consistency and the sugar has been mixed well.

Divide the mixture into equal portions and roll into little balls.

Garnish with raisins and serve fresh!

PS - A few of my blogger friends have done different versions of this sandesh. When you scroll on my blog page you will find a list of blogs that I follow and they are all my friends. Check those pages for some interesting variations of the Sandesh.