Rasamalai - Using Ricotta Cheese

Rasamalai, a milk based sweet was a pleasant surprise to me when I first tasted this delicious sweet in one of the restaurants in my childhood. I never knew that there would be a sweet like this which is a  combination of Rasagulla and Badam Milk. I was not a big fan of Rasagulla as its too sweetish for me..Since then, I used to think  how would it taste if i squeeze this rasagulla and soak it in my favourite badam drink for few minutes and then eat...So, the introduction of  Rasamalai was a sweet shock to me...My kids also like rasamalai too much. This time, I made it for diwali but posting it now.!!! I used 2% fat Ricotta cheese, 2% milk and MTR Madam Mix in the preparation in order to enjoy the rasamalai guilt free.

Ingredients

For the Malai:

Ricotta Cheese - 1 box ( 2 lbs )

Sugar - 2 tbsp

For the Ras:

2% Milk -  4 - 5 Glasses Full

Aachi Badam Powder / MTR Badam Mix - 1 Small Packet full

Almonds -  4 -5

Pista - 10-12

Cardamom Seeds - 2 -3

Method

• Boil the 2% milk till it thickens little bit. When its boiling, add the Aachi Badam Powder or MTR Badam Mix packet and mix it thoroughly.
• Add 2-3 tbsp of sugar as required to the boiling milk and switch it off after 2-3 minutes.
• Allow the Ras ( Badam Milk ) to get cooled completely. After its cooled, keep the milk in the refrigerator.
• Meantime, grind the almonds, pista and cardamom into a coarse powder or crush it manually so that the nut pieces are visible when sprinkled over the Rasmalai. Keep this crushed nut powder ready.
• For making the malais, mix the Ricotta cheese with 2 tbsp of sugar uniformly and fill them into the muffin baking pans. You can also transfer them into a square baking bowl and cut the baked malais into square shapes. This way, we will be having square malais in our Badam Ras.
• To have a small round malais like how we get in shops, muffin tray would be perfect. Grease the muffin moulds with little ghee or butter first before filling the moulds. Then, fill in the ricotta cheese mix into the muffin moulds uniformly.
• Bake them for about 35-40 minutes. Open the oven after 20 minutes and check to see if they are baked completely. You might notice some slight brownish tint over the cheese rounds and if you insert a stick inside, it should come out cleanly without any cheese. Then, we could confirm that the malais are done.
• Take out the muffin tray and allow them to cool down completely.
• After its cooled, turn the muffin tray upside down and gently tap the moulds. The baked cheese malais would come out easily.
• Slowly drop them into the chilled Badam Ras and decorate them by sprinkling the crushed nut powder on its top.
• Its a perfect party dessert as its milder and its mostly loved by kids.

Tips / Variations :

You can add a pinch of saffron strands to the Badam Ras along with the Badam Powder. This will definitely enhance the taste and also makes it more richer.

You can increase / decrease the sugar according to your taste buds.

I don't use any cream, half and half or thick milk / whole milk in my preparation. You can substitute them in your preparation if you don't worry about calories.