Rasmallai

Ingredients:

Paneer made from 1 liter of milk
1 liter full cream/ whole milk
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp cardamom powder
4 cups water
1 cup sugar
½ cup thinly sliced almonds or pistachios

Procedure:

Mix the water and 1 cup of sugar in a pan and boil till all the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the fire and keep syrup aside.
Knead the Paneer in a platter till very smooth. Make into balls slightly smaller than the size of a walnut and flatten slightly in the center. When the Paneer balls are made, reheat the syrup to boiling, then simmer and gently drop in the Paneer balls. Cook for 10 minutes. Turn off fire.
In another pan boil the of full cream milk with the sugar, till reduced/thickened to 75 per cent of its original volume. Turn off the fire, add the cardamom powder and mix well.
Add the syrup soaked Paneer balls (after draining) to the milk mixture and chill for a few hours. Before serving, garnish with slivers of dried fruit.

Gur’er(Jaggery) Sandesh

Ingredients:

1 liter milk

200 gm gur(jaggery)

5 chopped pistachios

2 cardamom seeds (crushed)

1 Lemon

Procedure:

Dissolve lemon juice (or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid) in half cup of warm water. Bring milk to boil, reduce heat and pour the acidic water all over it. Milk will curdle, stir till milk is fully curdled.
Pour the curdled milk(chenna) over a muslin cloth. Drain out water completely. Squeeze to remove any excess water and hang it for about 40 minutes. Take it out and knead evenly for about 7-10 minutes. During the last 3 minutes, add the gur. Knead the chenna/cheese along with the sugar. By this time the chenna/cheese should be very smooth & not grainy at all. To test if it is done & ready for the next step, take a portion of the chenna/cheese & roll it in a sphere between your palms. The sphere should be very smooth on the outside with no cracks.
Take a non stick pan, & put the entire chenna/cheese in the pan. Switch on the gas at a low heat. Spread out the chenna/cheese, & cook it on low heat. Stir it constantly with a spatula so it does not stick at the bottom of pan. This should be done for about 12-15 minutes. You will see it slowly change into a slightly darker shade. The texture will change too. When it is towards done, the chenna/cheese will no longer stick to the pan; it will form lumps & kind of gather together. Once this stage is reached, quickly take it off the heat & transfer it to a bowl. If the chenna/cheese is heated beyond this, it will form crumbs & you will not be able to mould it into shapes. The Chenna/Cheese is now ready to be given shapes. You have to mould it right away while it is still warm to touch. If left alone for long, it cannot be moulded anymore. Give desired shape. Sprinkle crushed pistachios and cardamom over each sondesh, cool it and serve.