Celebrate special occasions with Ras Malai (Rossomalai), a royal Indian dessert made of soft chenna dumplings soaked in a fragrant saffron and cardamom milk. Topped with pistachios, almonds, and sometimes even edible silver, it's the centerpiece mithai for Diwali, weddings, and holidays.
Admittedly, Ras Malai is one of my favorite Indian desserts. It's one of the more popular ones along with gulab jamun, jalebi, and gajar ka halwa. You can find it at a majority of Indian restaurants but there's nothing quite like making it fresh at home. While restaurants often serve pre-made versions, homemade ras malai gives you pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth dumplings and a luxurious kesari malai infused with saffron, cardamom, and rosewater.
They're juicy, sweet, and fragrant. They're a MUST for any dinner party, special occasion, and definitely deserve an appearance during Diwali celebrations!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Festive & elegant - Perfect for Diwali, Eid, weddings, or dinner parties.
- Freshly made - Ensures soft, spongy dumplings that soak up all the creamy and thick malai which is flavored to perfection with saffron, cardamom, nuts, and rosewater.
- Make ahead - Actually tastes better after chilling overnight.
What is Ras Malai?
Ras Malai is a popular mithai in India that's made with fresh milk curds, or chenna. It is kneaded into a smooth dough, shaped into dumplings, and boiled in sugar syrup before they're soaked in malai flavored with saffron, cardamom, and chopped nuts. "Ras" means juice, and "malai" means cream in Hindi, referring to how juicy the chenna balls are after boiling in sugar syrup and soaking in malai.
Its origins are debated, but both K.C. Das Grandsons in Bengal, India, and Matri Bhandar in Comilla, Bangladesh, claim to have created it in the early 1900s. Today, Ras Malai is enjoyed across the subcontinent and beyond, often compared to rasgulla but with the added richness of milk.
Ingredients - Notes and Substitutions
Ras Malai has three components - the soft and scrumptious chenna balls, the simple syrup for boiling the chenna balls, and the luscious saffron malai to soak the chenna balls in.
Chenna Discs
Making the chenna balls is the exact same process as making homemade paneer.
- Whole milk - Always use full-fat milk for the best yield. Other milks such as 2% on non-fat won't have enough milk fat to make a lot of paneer. Buffalo milk and goat milk can also be used to make paneer.
- Lemon juice or vinegar - To curdle the milk. If using vinegar, rinse the chenna in water to avoid flavor.
- Corn flour/starch - Helps bind the chenna into smooth discs. I've also used almond flour with no issue.
- Green cardamom - Adds flavor to the chenna itself.
Sugar Syrup
- Sugar + water - Lighter than a standard 1:1 syrup so the discs expand without becoming overly sweet.
Saffron Malai
Malai is the "cream" part of Ras Malai. It's almost like rabdi without the process of collecting the layers of cream.
- Milk - Reduced until creamy; whole milk works best. Some recipes add condensed milk for richness.
- Saffron - Steeped in warm milk for vibrant flavor and color.
- Cardamom - Freshly ground green cardamom powder or lightly crushed green cardamom pods that can be removed later; pairs beautifully with saffron.
- Rosewater + rose petals - Optional, but adds fragrance.
- Nuts - Slivered pistachios and almonds for garnish.
How to Make Ras Malai
There's 3 main components to making Ras Malai. First is making the malai so that it has time to reduce over heat. Then, making the chenna, kneading it into a dough, and shaping it into balls. The last step is to boil the chenna balls in a sugar syrup before transferring them to the malai to soak for a few hours.
The process is entirely the same as making paneer. For making paneer you'll need the following equipment:
- A heavy bottom pot. Since we are bringing the milk just up to a boil, heavy bottom pots are ideal for making sure the milk doesn't burn on the edges.
- A food thermometer. Bringing the milk up to the correct temperature is key to making great paneer. You can also watch for when the milk starts to bubble on the sides.
- A cheese cloth. For capturing the milk curds and draining the whey. The less whey in the end product, the better.
- Mixing bowl. Something to drain the whey into.
- Step 1: Keep the milk on low heat for 15-20 minutes until reduced by half, stirring in intervals, and moving the film on top to the middle. Then add saffron strands, sugar, cardamom, and nuts. Stir in rosewater off heat. Keep warm.
- Step 2: Make the chenna by bringing milk to a boil (~203°F), stirring in intervals, then stir in lemon juice/vinegar to curdle. Let it sit for 10 minutes for the curds to separate. Add ice to stop the cook.
For a beautiful golden malai, add the saffron early on so it blooms and turns the malai a gorgeous yellow hue.
- Step 3: Strain through a cheesecloth.
- Step 4: Squeeze out the excess whey.
- Step 5: Rest the paneer to drain completely.
- Step 6: Remove from the cheesecloth.
If the paneer is too wet, it'll be impossible to knead. You can spread the paneer out into a thin layer on a clean surface and press a paper towel into it to soak up the excess water.
- Step 7: Knead with a little corn flour and ground green cardamom until smooth and dough-like.
- Step 8: Even better, use a bench scraper to smooth out the chenna.
- Step 9: Roll the dough out into a log.
- Step 10: Divide into 12-15 balls that are 17-20 grams in size.
- Step 11: Press into patties.
- Step 12: Boil water and sugar in a wide pan. Gently drop in the discs and cook 10 minutes on one side.
- Step 13: Flip and continue to boil for another 5-8 minutes until doubled in size. Remove and lightly press out extra syrup.
- Step 14: Transfer discs to the warm saffron milk and spoon the malai over. Chill at least 3-4 hours (best overnight) so the dumplings fully absorb the malai.
Serving Suggestions
Ras Malai is a great option for a large party!! Serve the Ras Malai chilled in a platter for a dessert option. Top it with strands of saffron, pistachios, and dried rose petals. To make it extra fancy, add edible silver foil as well!
The ideal serving size is two chenna balls with a few tablespoons full of the malai to accompany it.
Expert Tips and Tricks
Achieving soft chenna is arguably the most important part of getting the best ras malai. There are a few key moments that can take your chenna discs from soft and scrumptious to hard and dense.
Warm saffron malai. The malai should still be warm when the boiled chenna dumplings are transferred in. It'll help them soak up the malai as it cools, and it'll continue to soak the malai as it chills.
Curdling the milk. Add just enough of the acidic agent (lemon juice or vinegar) to curdle the milk. Too much and the chenna will be grainy. Once the milk curdles, immediately add ice water into the pot to stop them from cooking any further.
Moist vs. dry chenna. The chenna should be moist but not dripping with whey. The texture shouldn't be sticky, grainy, or crumbly after kneading it into a dough. If it's too dry, add a tiny bit of whey at a time until the chenna rehydrates into the right texture. However, too much whey in the chenna and it'll start to dissolve in the simple syrup. If it's too moist, transfer it back to the cheesecloth and hang it from the kitchen sink faucet for 20-30 minutes until it's easier to work with, or spread it into a thin layer and pat dry with a paper towel. Don't add more corn flour, otherwise the discs will be hard and won't soak up any liquids.
Kneading the chenna. If you smear a bit of chenna on to a surface and it's smooth instead of grainy, then it's ready to shape into the discs. Don't overknead it to the point that the fat starts to separate.
Boiling in simple syrup. Over boiling the chenna in the sugar syrup can make them way too hard. It should only take 10-15 minutes, or until they've doubled in size.
Make Ahead Instructions
The chenna is best when it's made fresh at home. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days, and then boiled in the syrup. Another hack to make ras malai is to use pre-made rasgulla, squeeze as much of the syrup out as possible, and then soak it in homemade malai.
Ras Malai is perfect for making a day ahead! The longer the chenna balls soak in the malai, the softer and more flavorful they are.
More Indian Desserts to try
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Ras Malai
Ingredients
Chenna Balls
- 1.5 quarts whole milk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon corn flour
- 1 cup ice cubes
- ¼ teaspoon ground green cardamom
Simple Syrup
- 3 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
Malai
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 pinch saffron
- 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
- 2 tablespoons slivered pistachios
- 1 teaspoon ground green cardamom
- 2 teaspoon rosewater
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- dried rose petals, slivered almonds and pistachios, for garnish
Instructions
Malai
- In a flat pan, bring 2 cups whole milk to a gentle simmer on low heat.
- Lower the heat and simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until reduced by half. Move the top filmy layer to the middle as it appears. Add saffron, sugar, cardamom, and slivered nuts.Optional: Add the saffron before simmering for a beautiful golden hued malai.
- Remove from heat and stir in the rosewater. Keep warm.
Chenna Balls
- While the malai reduces, bring 1.5 quarts of milk just to a boil. Turn off heat and add lemon juice, stirring until the milk curdles.
- After 10 minutes, gently stir the milk with a slotted spoon to separate the curds from the whey. Add ice cubes to stop cooking,.
- Line a bowl with a cheesecloth. Carefully pour the curdled milk over the cheesecloth. Gather the cheesecloth to the middle, and twist the cloth to strain out as much whey as possible. If using vinegar, rinse the chenna and continue to strain.
- Transfer the chenna to a mixing bowl. Add the corn flour and ground green cardamom. Knead the paneer until it's smooth and forms a dough ball.
- Roll out the chenna into a log. Divide the log into 12-15 pieces that weigh about 17-20g each. Take a piece of chenna and flatten it into a ½-1 inch thick disc between your hands.
Cook the Chenna Discs
- In a wide pan, bring water and sugar to a boil to make syrup. Gently drop the chenna discs into the syrup. Boil for 10 minutes, then flip and continue to boil for another 5-8 minutes until doubled in size.Remove with a slotted spoon and lightly press to release excess syrup.
Assemble Ras Malai
- Place the warm chenna discs in a serving dish. Pour the warm saffron malai over them, ensuring they're fully submerged.
- Chill at least 3-4 hours, or overnight for best flavor.
- Serve chilled. Garnish with pistachios, almonds, and dried rose petals before serving.
Notes
- Make ahead: Ras Malai tastes even better the next day as the flavors meld.
- Fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Not recommended, as the texture of the chenna changes.
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