Rasa Malai

One of my favorite things to make with my Mom is Rasa Malai.  I remember pulling one of our yellow vinyl dining room chairs (yeah, it was the 80's) to the stove and stirring a pot of milk that I could barely see over.  My one job was to make sure the milk didn't burn and I took it very seriously.

Once the milk started to boil, I had to stir while my mom added lemon juice to break the milk so it would separate the curd out.  This was my favorite part and it was like magic.  As as she added the lemon juice we would both just stare at the pot waiting for the curds to appear. 

As I made this same recipes in my kitchen in San Francisco almost 25 years later, I could still feel the excitement as I waited for the lemon juice to take action. 

 

Once the milk breaks, you have to drain it in cheese cloth.  Try and squeeze as much water out as possible without burning your hands.  This can get tricky since it is milk that was just boiling.  Watch your finger!

Let it sit in a colander over a bowl for an hour.

While this sits and drains, it's time to get started on the sauce.  Reducing a gallon of milk by half take a lot of patience but it is worth it.  As the sugars start to caramelize and the milk gets velvety, I add some saffron that I steeped in warm milk and cardamom

 

This should take about an hour and if you arms isn't hurting from stirring milk, you haven't been doing you job!

Once the sauce is done, it's time to make the milk patties.  The curds have been draining for an hour and now you have to kneed them for a bit to make them smooth and uniform so you can roll them into patties.

Once they are all shaped, its time to steep them in the sauce for 10 minutes.

At this point I let them cool in the fridge overnight to give the patties time to absorb the flavors of the saffron and cardamom. 

Milk Patties

1 Gallon of Whole milk
2-3 Tbls of Lemon juice

See sauce recipe below

Bring the milk to a boil on medium high heat stirring constantly as to not burn the milk.  Once the milk comes to a boil, add the lemon juice and turn off the heat.  Once the milk has broken, strain the curds through cheese cloth and place in a colander over a bowl for an hour.

Once the curds have had time to drain, place in a bowl and kneed till soft and uniform but make sure to not over do it.  You should feel the fat from the milk coat your hands lightly.

Take about 2 Tablespoons of the dough and roll it into a ball.  Light press it down into a disc shape.

Once you have made all the patties, place them in the sauce which should be simmering.  Cook for about 10 minutes.  They should puff up and look swollen.

Let them rest in the fridge overnight.

Garnish with sliced almonds or pistachios

Milk Sauce

 

1 Gallon of Whole Milk
1 Cup of Sugar
big pinch of Saffron
10-12 Cardamom pods tied up in cheese cloth

Bring milk, sugar an cardamom to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Place the saffron in a bowl and add some of the warmed milk.  Let the saffron sit for 5 minutes an then add to the pot of milk.  Once the milk has reduced by half, take off the heat till it's time to cook the patties.