rasmalai
Well, after 2 weeks of slaving away at school, I’m finally catching a break. To enjoy this little break, I decided to make myself one of the treats that I’ve been missing most after coming back from India. It’s a dessert called rasmalai (literally meaning the “juice of cream”). Traditionally, rasmalai is a pretty labor intensive dish to make, but you all know how much disdain I have for long preparation times. So this is pretty much as simple as it gets. No muss, no fuss, just a delicious dessert for everybody to enjoy. Even my dad (a general anti-raw guy), gave me a wide-eyes “Wow” when he ate these. So try it out, and tell me what you think!
(click for more views and to enlarge)
Ingredients
Milk:
* 2 tsp rose water
* 1 handful cashews (~1/2 cup)
* 2 tbsp agave nectar
* 4 green cardamom seeds – powdered
* water
Rusgulas (balls):
* 2 handfuls cashews (~1 cup)
* 2 handfuls almonds (~1 cup)
* 5-6 soft dates
Directions
Milk:
Place all milk ingredients in a blender, and add water until total volume is just over 2 cups. Blend it all together.
Rusgulas (balls):
In a food processor, grind down 1 handful of cashews and 1 handful of almonds into a fine powder. Again using a food processor, grind down the other handful of cashews and almonds into small granules. In a large bowl, mix ground nuts with dates by hand until evenly distributed. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk into the mix and mash further. Next, shape the mix into 1 1/2 inch diameter saucers, and set aside.
Finally, place the rusgulas in a bowl, and pour the milk over them. Allow everything to sit for 7-8 hours so the rusgulas soak up the flavor from the milk and soften. Before serving, top with crushed pistachios.
Now go make yourself some!
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–Rishi
Oh my gosh! This looks so delicious as well as simple. Now I know what raw dessert I’ll be making next. By the way, when you say cardamom do you mean green or black?
hey paulina,
i meant green cardamom. sorry about that.
hope you enjoy the recipe. also ro and i both love your site, and we’ve added you to our links bar on the left.
keep the good stuff comin!
Glad you are getting a break from your studies, Rishi, and are putting your time into something so delicious!
I love, love, LOVE rasmalai! I miss so many lovely Indian desserts. I never tried to make anything other than Indian rice pudding. I’m sooo going to try this. Thanks!
One favor to ask…is it possible for you to measure for those of us who possibly have different sized hands than you?
One recipe I thought…hmm, maybe his hands are a little bigger since he’s a guy. In the end, I always adjust recipes, anyway, but it would be nice to use the exact recipe to give you fair feedback when trying it.
This sounds divine!
Thanks so much!
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
hi wendi,
Thanks for all your wonderful comments.
Sorry about the rough measurements. I should keep those kinda things in mind. I just took out a measuring cup and my handful is about 1/2 cup of nuts.
Also wanted to say I took a look at your blog recently and i really like it. I’ll be adding it to our links section shortly.
hope you enjoy it!
Thanks so much for your reply, Rishi!!
I’m going to update my printed versions of some recipes to read 1/2 cup when you indicate a handful. I’ll let you know what I think of this when I make it.
Thanks for stopping by my site. I’m glad you like it enough to add to your links section! Thanks so much!
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
Rasmali is one of my favorite sweets! This looks amazing! I will have to try and let you know how it turns out!
I always look forward to your recipe postings!
Om Shanti
Looks absolutely delicious! I write from Barcelona, I´m happy that I discovered your website because I used to love indian food. I follow the Seignalet diet, which basically consists on not eating cereals, dairy nor over-cooked food. I´m not fully crudivore, but I try to eat 70-80% raw.
I will follow visiting your site, congratulations, everything looks incredible!