The Sweet Tooth Of India: West Bengal And Its Ras Malai
The nation state of India has been known throughout the world for its rich cultural heritage, this is true even for its culinary arts, renowned for its usage of spice and its wide range of choices in the cuisine, dishes like the sarson da saag and dal makhani are well known dishes with origins from the state of Punjab, while in Goa, influenced under the colonial rule of the Portugese. The Goan communities cuisines surround mainly around seafood and meat, and there's very little to say about the popularity of the food from the southern states, dishes like idli, dosa, and vada which are known worldwide.
Popularity of rasmalai
West Bengal has had their fair share of contributions like the aloo potol posto, ilish macher jhol, sandesh, the famous rasagolla and the rasmalai. The rasmalai like the rasagolla has controversial origins which haven't been confirmed to date, with opinions suggesting it to originate from the eastern part of the country.
Ras malai, ‘ras’ meaning juice and ‘malai’ meaning cream, for many people in India the rasmalai evokes emotions due to its significance in indian homes during rituals and festivity, loved by kids and adults alike this mouth watering soft and juicy dish rich in milk and cream is often bought at sweet shops and halwais, one can attempt the rasmalai recipe in their homes, while fairly simple, mastering them would take a while to get them perfectly soft and juicy.
Making the rasmalai is a three step process - firstly; one has to make paneer or chena by curdling milk, boil the chena bits in sugar syrup and have them rest in thickened milk or rabri. Most people would leave their rasmalai to chill in the fridge for a couple hours to serve chill, it’s all a matter of preference here.
One can also bake their rasmalai creative cooks around the world have found innovative ways to cook the age old recipe in newer and modern ways, adding in different ingredients during the process of cooking can flavor your rasmalai in unique and interesting ways, the possibilities are endless. The most common variants to the rasmalai is the kesar ras malai, rasmalai without sugar syrup for those looking into sugar free dishes, or the bake ras malai, which is essentially rasmalai baked. Rasmalai is often garnished with pista and cashew nuts.
Rasmalai is considered by many an important member of the large family of sweet dishes in India, it holds an iconic status worldwide and rasmalai recipe are loved worldwide bringing sweet joy in the homes of many and satisfying the stomachs of many more.
