Ras Malai

Neti's first birthday! I wanted to do something memorable and was wanting to make Ras Malai for few years now. Enjoyed making it throughly. My husband and son Ariv loved it! Very easy to make, just follow the steps.

Ingredients:

Whole Milk – 1 gallon Lemon Juice – 4 Tbsp Water – 8 cups (in a pressure cooker) Sugar – 1.5 cup Saffron – 1 tbsp Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp Pistachios, cashews, almonds – roughly chopped Sugar for the Ras – to taste

Condensed milk -1 can

Method:

1. Boil half gallon milk in a steel pan and boil the remaining half milk in a another pan. Keep the flame low and keep cooking while stirring occasionally. Grind saffron with a small amount of sugar and add it to the milk while boiling. 2. Once the milk in the steel pan comes to a rolling boil, slowly add lemon juice. 3. When the milk curdles (paneer), switch off the stove and strain the paneer in a cheese cloth. 4. Pour a little cold water over the paneer and hang the cheese cloth on the tap for approx 30 minutes to remove all of the liquid. 5. Remove the paneer from the cheese cloth and run it through a food processor to smooth it out. You can knead the paneer by hand but it will take a long time to make it smooth. 6. Divide the paneer into small equal portions a little smaller than the size of small ball. 7. Roll the portions in your hands until a smooth ball is formed. Lightly press the ball until it flattens out. You can leave tell as balls. 8. In the pressure cooker with water, dissolve 1.5 cup sugar and add the flattened paneer. 9. Close pressure cooker lid and cook until one whistle sounds. Immediately switch off the stove and set the timer for exactly 5 minutes. 10. After 5 minutes, carefully take the pressure cooker to the sink and pour cold water over the lid to remove the pressure. 11. Remove the cooked paneer with a slotted spoon into a bowl and allow it to cool. 12. Meanwhile, the milk in the non-stick pan should have reduced to half. Add sugar to taste, cardamom powder and nuts. Switch off the stove and keep milk aside. 13. Once the paneer is cool enough to handle with your hands, gently squeeze out the sugar syrup from the paneer and place the paneer into a serving dish. 14. Pour the prepared reduced milk over the paneer and chill in the refrigerator. 15. Garnish with additional chopped nuts