Recipe- Everyone's Favorite Ras Malai

The only way I can think of to describe these is as a sort of Indian cheesecake without the biscuit base. Served mainly at weddings this curd cheese pudding is made the same way as paneer and as with most Indian deserts this is fairly sweet.

Ingredients

Cream Cheese

1L whole milk
2 tbsp lemon juice

Fragranced Milk

500ml whole milk
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rose water
2 green cardamom
Pinch of saffron
3 tbsp pistachios, chopped (for topping)

Sugar Syrup

750ml water
200g sugar

Method

Cream Cheese

- To make the cream cheese, place milk in a large pan and just bring to the boil, stir so it doesn't burn.

- Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, stir through and the milk will separate.

- Strain into a sieve lined with a muslin sheet and bring the corners of the muslin together to squeeze out any excess liquid.

- Place a dinner plate on top and weigh it down and leave for at least 2 hours but overnight is best.

- Remove the cream cheese and kneed it until soft and smooth. Once it starts to feel oily make 6 small balls and set to one side.

Fragranced Milk

- Heat the milk and bring it to a gentle simmer for about a half an hour until it has reduced down to half. Make sure you stir it so it doesn't scorch at the bottom.

- Add all the sugar, rose water, cardamom and stir then leave to cool.

Sugar Syrup

- Place the water and the sugar into a pan and bring to the boil until the sugar has melted.

- Remove from the heat and place the balls in the sugar syrup and leave to steam for 5 minutes.

- Remove the delicate balls onto some kitchen paper to drain and discard the syrup.

- Once the fragranced milk has cooled add the cheese balls and refrigerate.

- To serve remove from the refrigerator and serve with a little of the fragranced milk, top with the crushed pistachios and sprinkle with saffron strands.