Rasabali is a traditional Indian recipe for a classic Diwali dessert of spiced paneer cheese and flour balls that are deep fried to cook and served in thickened milk. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Rasabali.
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Rasabali is a Classic Indian recipe for a Diwali dessert of spiced paneer cheese and flour balls that are deep fried to cook and served in thickened milk.
Ingredients:
250g chenna (mashed paneer cheese)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sooji (semolina flour or ground cream of wheat [the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat ground to a flour])
1 tsp fine plain flour (maida)
2 tbsp sugar
1l milk
60g milk powder
a few saffron threads
300g sugar
4 cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
oil for deep frying
sliced almonds or cashew nuts, to garnish
Method:
Combine the mashed paneer, maida, suji, baking soda, sugar and ground cardamom in a bowl. Mix together with a fork, mashing the other ingredients into the paneer until well combined. Once you have a smooth dough shape this into small balls then flatten into discs between the palms of your hands.
In the meantime, add the milk to a heavy-based pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Continue boiling for a couple of minutes then take off the heat (take care that the milk does not boil over).
Set aside the milk until lukewarm then take 250ml of the milk and stir in the milk powder. Whisk this back into the remaining milk. Put back over low heat and cook, stirring constantly.
Now add the crushed cardamom pods, sugar and saffron strands. Mix well the cook, stirring constantly for about 40 minutes, or until the milk has reduced to half its original volume.
Heat oil to a dept of about 4cm in a kadai or wok. When hot, add the chenna balls one at a time and deep fry until golden brown all over (do not over crowd the pan, as this makes them hard to handle).
Once nicely golden brown all over, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Add the deep fried balls to the thickened milk mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 4 minutes over low heat.
Take off the heat and set aside to cool. Turn into a serving dish, garnish with the sliced nuts and serve.
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