Recipe for Melt-in-the-Mouth Malai Gulla

Name: Recipe for Melt-In-The-Mouth Malai Gulla
Cook time: 60 min
Ingredients: 3 lt Low Fat Milk (1.5% Fat); 6 tbsp White Vinegar; 1 Cup Water; 3 tsp Cornflour; 1½ Kg Sugar; 750 ml Water; 2 lt Full-Fat Milk (3.5-3.8% Fat); 1 tsp Saffron; 350 gm Sugar; 2 tbsp Rose Water; 5 tbsp Chopped Almonds; 3 tbsp Chopped Pistachios; 20 Cardamoms; ground to a powder

Malai Gulla is a popular dessert from India. It is commonly found in sweet shops that line every other street in India. On a hot summer day, cold Malai Gulla tastes heavenly. It is often eaten as a dessert after a meal, wherein the spices in the food are cut down by the sweetness of this milk-based dessert.

Living in Germany, I have learnt to make many Indian desserts at home. Recently, for a get-together, I made this yummy dessert. I made it for approximately 12 people, so the quantities mentioned in my recipe are more. According to the number of people you want to serve, increase or decrease the quantity of ingredients proportionally. With the recipe I have shared, you will be able to make 60 small rasgullas. You can serve about 5 to each person.

Malai Gulla has two parts- Malai and Gulla. Malai is basically thickened milk infused with saffron, nuts and cardamom, and Gulla is Rasgulla, made by curdling milk. So, to make Malai Gulla, I have broken the recipe into three parts:

Making Malai ( Saffron Milk)
Making Gulla ( Rasgulla)
Assembling the dessert.

So, let us start:

Kitchen Equipment needed:

Cooking Pot: https://amzn.to/3Yiqsrq
Large Plate (Parath): https://amzn.to/3rZpVhP

Ingredients to make Malai Gulla:

Ingredients for making Rasgulla:

3 lt Low Fat Milk (1.5% Fat)
6 tbsp White Vinegar
1 Cup Water
3 tsp Cornflour
1 1/2 Kg Sugar
750 ml Water

Ingredients for making Saffron Milk:

2 lt Full-Fat Milk (3.5-3.8% Fat)
1 tsp Saffron
350 gm Sugar
2 tbsp Rose Water
5 tbsp Chopped Almonds
3 tbsp Chopped Pistachios
20 Cardamoms; ground to a powder

Method to make Malai Gulla:

Method to make Rasgulla:

Boil milk in a thick-bottomed cooking pot. Stir it in between, ensuring the milk doesn’t stick to the pot’s base.
When the milk in the pot comes to a boil, remove it from the heat.
Mix vinegar and 1 cup water in a bowl.
Add this vinegar and water solution slowly, part by part, to the boiled milk. Stir.
The milk will start curdling, and the curdled milk will separate from the clear whey.
Pour this into a fine strainer. If you don’t have a fine strainer, put a muslin cloth on the strainer and pour the milk on the cloth. Collect the curdled milk in the strainer.
Wash this under tap water to remove the sourness caused by the vinegar. This will also cool the curdled milk. This curdled milk is called ‘Chena’.
Let the Chena rest on the strainer for about 10 minutes so that all the excess water flows out. If you have used a muslin cloth, gently squeeze the excess water out.
Transfer this chena to a big plate.
Add cornflour.
Using the lower part of your palm, mash and knead the chena to remove all the fine grains.
Make small balls. With the quantity of milk I used, I was able to make 60 small balls.
Now, make the sugar syrup. In another big pot, boil sugar and 750 ml water. When it comes to a boil and the sugar is dissolved, add the chena balls to the syrup.
Boil for about 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and let the chena balls rest in the sugar syrup till further use.

Method to make Saffron milk:

Combine milk and saffron. Boil them in a thick-bottomed pot.
Add cardamom powder, rose water, chopped almonds and pistachios.
On medium heat, cook the milk. Stir it continuously so that it doesn’t stick to the base. Cook till the milk reduces to half of its initial volume. When the milk gets reduced to half, add sugar.
After the sugar dissolves, turn off the heat and let this milk cool completely.

Assembling the dessert

Remove the rasgullas from the sugar syrup and transfer them to a serving bowl. Then pour the saffron milk on top. Garnish with pistachios and saffron. Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

Serve Mali Gulla cold.

Here is the recipe in printable format: