Recipe for Melt-In-The-Mouth Malai Gulla
Malai Gulla is a popular Indian dessert made by dunking chena balls (made from curdled milk) in sugar syrup and serving them in think saffron-flavoured milk.
Equipment
- Cooking Pot
- Large Plate (Parath)
Ingredients
Ingredients for making Rasgulla
- 3 lt Low Fat Milk (1.5% Fat)
- 6 tbsp White Vinegar
- 1 Cup Water
- 3 tsp Cornflour
- 1½ 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
Instructions
Method to make Rasgulla
- Boil milk in a thick-bottomed cooking pot., stirring in between, ensuring that the milk doesn't stick to the base of the pot.
- When the milk in the first pot comes to a boil, turn off the heat.
- Mix vinegar and 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 in 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, squeeze it gently to remove the excess water.
- Transfer this chena to a big plate. Add cornflour.
- Using the lower part of your palm, mash and knead the chena so that all the fine grains are removed.
- Make small balls. With the quantity of milk I used, I was able to make 60 small balls
- To make the sugar syrup: In another big pot, boil sugar and 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 rose water, cardamom powder, 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.