Tag indian food

50/50 Week 31: India Rasmalai

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This recipe takes a few steps, but its well worth it in my opinion 🙂

I took a shortcut with the rabri and used sweetened condensed milk.

Rabri Ingredients:

  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/8 tsp cardamom powder
  • a few saffron strands
  • chopped pistachios and almonds for topping

Chenna/Paneer Ingredients:

  • 5 cups whole milk
  • 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
  • a handful of ice cubes

Sugar Syrup Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 1/2 cups water
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Start out by making your Rabri. Combine your condensed milk and whole milk over medium heat and stir until it all comes together. Add your cardamom and saffron, then set to lowest heat and simmer while you get your other ingredients together.

Time to work on your chenna/paneer. This was super cool for me because while cooking is definitely a science, this is the first time it felt like doing an experiment. Anywho, bring 5 cups of milk to a boil and then turn off the heat. Add lemon juice and stir until your milk completely curdles. If you’re having issues curdling, add some more lemon juice. Add a handful of ice cubes and let sit for a couple minutes so it’s not too hot to handle. Line a colander with a muslin cloth (in a pinch, a nice kitchen towel works..just not the fuzzy kind) Pour your curdled mess into the colander and rinse with cold water to make sure you get the lemon juice off. Pull all your corners of your cloth together and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. If you’re able, tie it as tight as you can and hang it over your faucet so it can continue to dribble out cheese water. mmmm cheese water

After about an hour you should be good to go with your Chenna. There should be no more dripping and it should be moist but not super sticky.

Time to be a kneady bitch.

Transfer your chenna to a plate and knead for about 3-5 minutes. There’s no exact time on this one you’re doing it all by feel. Knead it until it’s smooth and non-sticky. Make 12 even sized balls and flatten gently to form discs. If you have any cracking, just roll the sides gently. No one needs to know. How are they gonna know?

We’re almost done, I promise. Now to make the sugar syrup! Boil 3 1/2 cups water with 1 cup sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves and then add cardamom powder. When syrup begins to boil rapidly, gently add your chenna discs and cook covered for 9-10 minutes. Remove from heat and keep lid on for 20 minutes. For 20 minutes, pretend they don’t exist. You’ll know they’re ready when they sink to the bottom of the pan. Remove from syrupy grave and let cool briefly.

Time to assemble this sweet mouth potpourri!

Gently squeeze excess syrup out of your discs by lightly pressing between your palms. Add these to your rabri- make sure to remove from heat- and let rest for 3-4 hours. I never said this was a quick process.

Garnish with your nuts..heh

You can serve warm or cold.

I learned the hard way that my wife doesn’t like pistachios. I don’t know how I never found this out. Don’t worry, we’ve reconciled and the divorce has been postponed. More pistachios for meeee!!!

50/50 Week 30: Russian Zephyr

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Ingredients:

Blackberry Puree:

2 cups blackberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 egg white, room temperature

Agar Agar Syrup:

1/3 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp agar agar
Powdered Sugar (to dust)

1. In a medium saucepan, bring blackberries, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp lemon juice to a simmer. Mash berries (a potato masher works great!) and simmer uncovered 10 min then strain through fine sieve, pressing on solids with a spatula. Scrape the back of the sieve to get 1/2 cup of puree. Chill the puree over an ice bath until cooled.

2. Once puree is chilled and slightly thickened, combine it with 1 egg white in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk. Beat 8-10 min on high speed or until thick and stiff peaks form. While the blackberry/egg white mixture is whipping, proceed with step 3.

3. In a medium sauce pan, combine 1/3 cup water, 2 tsp agar agar and 1 cup sugar. Place over medium heat, bring to boil then reduce heat to a low boil and cook 5 min, whisking constantly until syrup has thickened and pours from a spoon without dribbling. Remove from heat.

4. With mixer on the LOWEST speed, and as soon as agar syrup is off the stove, immediately pour it in a thin stream into the whipped blackberry mixture. Avoid getting syrup on whisk and bowl. Scrape down the bowl and beat another 2-3 minutes on high speed until stiff peaks form.

5. While everything is still nice and warm, transfer your mixture to a piping bag and pipe onto a parchment lined baking sheet. You can use whatever type of tip you like, but I would stick to larger ones.

6. Let stand in a draft free, low humidity, room, uncovered 6-12 hours, or overnight. Marshmallows will form a glossy film on top and will come off the parchment fairly easily, then match 2 halves together and roll sandwiched marshmallows in powdered sugar. I had to leave mine overnight.

Overall this was a pretty simple recipe. Definitely not quick as it took 2 days to make, but they’re so delicious and the fresh blackberries are amazing. They just melt in your mouth..a little too easily so make sure you share them with friends.