Rasmalai

Rasmalai is a Bengali dessert consisting of soft paneer balls immersed in chilled creamy milk. Like Rasgullas, Rasmalai is also made with homemade cheese known as “paneer” or “chana”. Instead of being soaked in sugar syrup like Rasgullas, Rasmalai is soaked in sweet, flavored milk. I made rasmalai yesterday.It is my favorite dessert I have made this many a times successfully. It has been a while since I started this blog and haven't posted this recipe since.The recipe is simple and the rasmalai just melts in your mouth.. Here's what I do:

Ingredients:

Milk-8 cups(1½ lr)

Lemon juice- 1/4 cup

Sugar-1 ½ cups

Water-4 1/2 cups

For the Ras:

Milk-4 cups

Sugar- 3/4cup

Yellow food color/saffron-1/8 tsp

Cardamom powder-¼ tsp

Sliced Pistachios and Almonds

Method:

1.Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed over medium-high heat, stirring frequently making sure milk do not burn on the bottom of the pan.

2.As the milk comes to a boil, add the lemon juice slowly and stir the milk gently. The curd will start separating from the whey, turn off the heat.

3.Once the milk fat has separated from the whey, drain the whey using a strainer line with cheesecloth or muslin cloth just squeeze out the excess liquid and knead it gently with your hands. It is not required to hang the paneer overnight to drain out all the water as done usually.

4.Wrap the curd in a muslin cloth, rinse under cold water, immediately and squeeze well. This process takes out the sourness from the lemon.

5.To take out the excess water squeeze the cloth, or press the wrapped paneer under a heavy pan for about one hour. Taking the right amount of water out of the paneer is the most important part of this recipe.

6.Once the water has been drained completely, remove the soft paneer from the cloth onto a smooth clean kneading surface. At this stage the paneer will be crumbly and will not hold shape.

7. To check if enough water is out of the paneer, take a little piece of paneer on your palm and rub with your fingers. After rubbing the paneer for about 15-20 seconds, you should be able to make a firm but smooth ball.

8. If the paneer is too dry, add a few drops of water and knead the paneer for 3-4 minutes until the paneer is almost rolls into smooth soft dough.

9.Bring water and sugar to a rolling boil in a clean pressure cooker. Divide the paneer into 22-24 pieces and roll into a smooth ball.

10.If the ball breaks apart, knead and then roll into a ball. Slightly flatten the ball for Rasmalais. After the pressure cooker starts steaming, turn the heat to medium and cook for about seven minutes.

11. Make sure the cooker is large enough to accommodate the finished rasgullas patties, as they will expand to about double in the volume while cooking in the syrup!

12.Bring the 4 cups of milk to a boil on low heat, stir continuously to avoid burning.

13.The 4 cups of milk have to be reduced to around 2 ½ - 3 cups, this takes around 25-30 minutes. Yes, it takes time but well worth the wait. Stir in the sugar and cardamom powder. Also add the food coloring.

14.Squeeze out excess syrup from the patties and drop them in the milk once it has thickened.

15.Let theRasmalai patties boil for 3-4 minutes in the milk. Turn off heat. Transfer carefully to a container and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or more.

16.Garnish with slice pistachios and almonds before serving.

Chakka Pradhman &Olan

Jackfruit Payasam/Chakka Pradhaman:

Pradhaman is usually prepared with lentils, or fruit like banana, mango and ripe jackfruit. This chakka pradaman is a dish I make for naivedhyam for Vishu. In tirnelveli dist some villages are near to kerala border.Since our both villages( Me & my husband) are near to kerala border.. So most of the food related to kerala & tirnelveli combination.Pradhaman is one of the dish often made in My family.. The payasams or pradhamans prepared out of jaggery, coconut milk and fruits like jackfruit, bananas and Palada Pradhaman, which is made of rice, sugar, and dried rice flakes or ada ,rice adais require elaborate procedures which are simplified a lot. To prepare this chakka pradhman , it’s necessary to use only ripe jackfruit.

Ingredients:

1. Jack fruit pieces- 10.

2. Nendram Pazham-1

3.coconut - 1( big) .

4. Jaggery- 2cups.

5. Ghee - 2 tablespoons.

6. Cardamom- 4 or5.

7. Cashews - few (handful)

8. Coconut milk 1 ½ cup thick

Method:

1.Cut the jack fruit and NendramPazham and cook for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool. In the meanwhile, dissolve the jaggery in 1cup of water and melt it, filter and continue to heat in low fire.

2.Now mash the cooked jack fruit pieces into a paste in a mixer and saute it in 1 spoon of ghee in a thick bottomed vessel, in which the payasam is to be made. Add the liquid jaggery to it and continue to cook it in low flame till both items blend together into a semi solid consistency. Put off the fire.

3.Grate the coconut and extract the milk by adding 1 cup of water in a mixer and keep aside . Add 1and a 1/2 cups of water to the gratings (from which milk has already been extracted) and extract coconut milk again and keep this diluted coconut milk separately.

4.Add the second extract of coconut milk first, stir well , and bring to a boil on low fire. Now turn off the heat and add the first concentrate milk. Note that after adding the first concentrate, the payasam should not be heated.

5.Heat the remaining ghee in a frying pan, fry the cashews and cardamom powder and add to the payasam for garnishing.

The jack fruit payasam is ready to be served for the feast.

Recipe forChakka Varraty/JackFruit Halwa Here:
Olan:

Olan, a traditional Sadya dish preparation which is enriched with coconut milk. Olan is the simplest and a unique dish with no spice at all in it(except green chillies) flavoured with coconut milk and coconut oil and fresh curry leaves. Yet, when made with the right ingredients in the right proportion, it tastes heavenly. usually It is made with with white pumpkin (ash gourd/winter melon) or the yellow variety and cowpeas/moongdal which makes it a very healthy diet. And it has a unique, pleasing and inviting aroma which itself make you crave for the dish

Ingredients:

YellowPumpkin – 1/4kg

Colocasia (seppankilamgu)-50 gms

Green Chillies - 4nos

MoongDal/cowpeas- 2tbs

Coconut milk-11/2 cups

Curry leaves-5-6 nos

CoconutOil-1tsp

Salt as per taste

Method:

1.Cook the seppankilangu and keep aside. Grate coconut Squeeze out 1/4cup of the milk from the coconut without adding water. Take one more cup of milk from the coconut.

2. Cook the vegetables and moongdal in water.

3. Add enough salt and the green chillies.

4. When it is done, Then add seppankilangu with 1cup coconut milk and boil.

5. When it thickens well, add 1/4cup coconut milk.

6. Bring to a boil and remove from fire.

7. Add 1tbs coconut oil and the curry leaves and mix well.