How To Make Soft Rasmalai At Home
Jul 12, 2014, Updated Sep 10, 2021
Popular Indian Sweet - Indian Cottage Cheese Dumplings Soaked In Sweetened Thickened Milk Flavored With Saffron & Cardamom
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Rasmalai is my favorite Indian sweet by miles. As a kid I wasn’t very fond of sweets but Rasmalai was my absolute favorite. Maybe because it’s so delicious or maybe because we didn’t get to eat it that regularly compared to other sweets. Rasmalai is a royal sweet often served in weddings and eaten on special occasions. I already have a rasmalai recipe on my blog but I thought of making a separate post to talk about how to make perfectly soft rasmalais at home. I hope it will be of some help to the readers.
There are two parts to Rasmalai – the rasmalai balls and the thickened milk.
Rasmalai balls: To make rasmalai balls the milk is first boiled and and then curdled by adding lemon juice or vinegar. After draining the water from the curdled milk, the protein that is left is called the “chena” or “paneer”. The chena is then mashed till it becomes smooth. Small balls are then made from that chena and dropped in boiling sugar syrup till cooked.
The thickened milk or the ras: The rasmalai balls are finally dipped in thickened milk and chilled before serving. To make the “ras” [syrup] full fat milk is boiled till it thickens slightly. It is then flavored with saffron and cardamom.
So now that we know what rasmalai is let’s talk a bit about how you can make them perfectly at home. The biggest problem that people face while making rasmalai at home is that the rasmalai balls often turn out hard whereas they should be totally soft and in fact melt in your mouth – that’s when you know you have made the perfect rasmalai. During my trip to India this time I made it so many times that now I feel confident in sharing these little tips which will make sure that your rasmalais turn out perfectly every time.
I will talk about these tips as we go through the step by step picture for this recipe
Method
Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan. Once it comes to a boil, switch off the flame and add 1/2 cup of water to bring the temperature of the milk down a bit. Wait for 5-10 minutes and then start adding lemon juice till milk curdles.
Point No.1 : Use full cream/whole milk to make rasmalai. Low fat or fat free will not give good results. The rasmalai balls are nothing but milk fat so you need to use full fat milk for making this sweet.
Point No. 2: Don’t curdle the milk as soon as it comes to a boil. Add 1/2 cup water and wait for 5-10 minutes till the milk temperature comes down a bit. If you curdle the milk when it’s not “super hot”, the resulting chena will be softer.
Add lemon juice till the milk curdles completely. Using a strainer drain the water and collect the chena. Rinse it under tap water so that there’s no trace of lemon juice in it. Leave it in the strainer for 10-15 minutes and then take the chena in your hand and squeeze out remaining water slowly.
Point No. 3: Even though you have to squeeze out the water completely from the chena, make sure that it’s not completely dry. The chena should feel soft and moist even after you have squeezed out the water. So don’t press it too hard else it will become dry and resulting rasmalai balls will not be soft. This step is important so do leave little water in the chena so that it feels soft and moist when you mash it.
Add cornflour and start mashing the chena till it’s smooth. Set the clock to 10 minutes and mash constantly for 10 minutes using your palm. Once it’s smooth, make small balls out of it.
Point No. 4: Mash the chena for 10 minutes, the time is crucial so don’t try to cut it down. When the chena is smooth you should be able to make smooth balls out of it.
Point No. 5: The balls when dipped in sugar syrup double in size so make the balls accordingly. I got only 8-9 balls because I was trying to make big rasmalai balls. Usually I get 16-17 balls from 1 liter of milk but of course they are smaller in size.
Heat 1 cup sugar and 4 cups water in a wide pan and wait till it comes to a full boil. Drop the balls in boiling sugar syrup and cook for 15-17 minutes. The balls will double in size by then. Take out the balls from the syrup and drop them in fresh water. If they sink to the bottom, the balls are done. They are always done by 15-17 minutes so you can skip this step if you want.
Point No. 6: Use a wide pan to cook the rasmalai balls. The balls double in size so there should be enough space in the pan for them to cook. Don’t overcrowd the pan with too many balls.
Point No. 7: The water to sugar ratio is 4:1. So for every 1 cup of sugar we add 4 cups of water. This ratio is important to get the right syrup consistency. Drop the balls in the syrup only when it comes to a full boil and the heat should be set to maximum throughout the duration of 15-20 minutes till the balls are cooking.
Point No. 8: If you feel the sugar syrup is getting thicker and balls are sticking to the bottom of the pan, then keep adding little water constantly. The balls should not touch the bottom of the pan. The syrup should always be thin in consistency. With 4:1 ratio, you will hardly need to add any water. That’s why I said this is the perfect ratio for maintaining the correct syrup consistency.
Point No. 9: Once the balls are cooked, let them cool down to room temperature. While the balls are cooling down make the thickened milk.
In a heavy bottom pan, boil 500 ml of milk. Soak few strands of saffron in a tablespoon of warm milk and set aside.
Once the milk comes to a boil, lower the flame and continue to stir the milk at regular intervals. After 10 minutes add sugar and mix.
After 20-25 minutes the milk will thicken to desired consistency, add soaked saffron and crushed cardamom. Also add finely chopped pistachios [if using]. Mix and switch off the flame.
Take out the cooled down rasmalai balls from the fresh water bowl. Squeeze and flatten lightly using your hands and put in sugar syrup for around 10-15 minutes [so that they absorb the sugar] before transferring them to milk. Squeeze the balls carefully as they are very soft and can break easily. I like to flatten the rasmalai at this stage rather than flattening them in the beginning. I feel they get cooked evenly in the sugar syrup when the balls are round in shape.
You can let the balls cool down in sugar syrup itself and then you can skip this step and transfer the balls directly to milk.
After 10-15 minutes transfer the balls to thickened milk. Chill in the refrigerator overnight or for 5-6 hours. Garnish with chopped pistachios and few saffron strands before serving.
Point No. 10: The milk should be warm when you add the rasmalai balls to it. So the balls should cool down to room temperature but the milk should be warm.
Enjoy soft melt in your mouth rasmalai!
* Use real cardamom pods to get the crushed powder. Do not use the ready made cardamom powder that we get in stores, it doesn’t have the same taste as the real one.
* Rasmalai taste best when chilled overnight. Also the balls soak the milk and all flavored get intermixed well in 8-10 hours. So to serve the next day, make them a day in advance.
I hope these 10 tips help in making you the perfect soft rasmalai at home.
How To Make Soft Rasmalai At Home
Ingredients
For the rasmalai balls
- 1 liter whole milk
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cornflour
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
For the ras [syrup]
- 500 ml whole milk
- 5-6 green cardamom pods peeled and crushed to get the powder
- saffron a pinch
- 3-4 tablespoons sugar
- finely chopped pistachios
Instructions
Rasmalai Balls
- Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan.Once it comes to a boil, switch off the flame and add 1/2 cup of water to bring the temperature of the milk down a bit.
- Wait for 5-10 minutes and then start adding lemon juice till milk curdles.
- Add lemon juice till the milk curdles completely.
- Using a strainer drain the water and collect the chena.
- Rinse it under tap water so that there's no trace of lemon juice in it.
- Leave it in the strainer for 10-15 minutes and then take the chena in your hand and squeeze out remaining water slowly.
- Add cornflour and start mashing the chena till it’s smooth.
- Set the clock to 10 minutes and mash constantly for 10 minutes using your palm. Once it’s smooth, make small balls out of it.
- Heat 1 cup sugar and 4 cups water in a wide pan and wait till it comes to a full boil. Drop the balls in boiling sugar syrup and cook for 15-17 minutes. The balls will double in size by then. Take out the balls from the syrup and drop them in fresh water. If they sink to the bottom, the balls are done. They are always done by 15-17 minutes so you can skip this step if you want.
Thickened Milk
- In a heavy bottom pan, boil 500 ml of milk.
- Soak few strands of saffron in a tablespoon of warm milk and set aside.
- Once the milk comes to a boil, lower the flame and continue to stir the milk at regular intervals. After 10 minutes add sugar and mix.
- After 20-25 minutes the milk will thicken to desired consistency, add soaked saffron and crushed cardamom.
- Also add finely chopped pistachios [if using]. Mix and switch off the flame.
- Take out the cooled down rasmalai balls from the fresh water bowl. Squeeze and flatten lightly using your hands and put in sugar syrup for around 10-15 minutes [so that they absorb the sugar] before transferring them to milk. Squeeze the balls carefully as they are very soft and can break easily. I like to flatten the rasmalai at this stage rather than flattening them in the beginning. I feel they get cooked evenly in the sugar syrup when the balls are round in shape.
- Transfer the balls to thickened milk [milk should be warm].
- Chill in the refrigerator overnight or for 5-6 hours. Garnish with chopped pistachios and few saffron strands before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How To Make Rasmalai at Home
Hello, thanks for the recipe. However, after keeping the chana to dry, when kneading, it is becoming very sticky. I tried a second time keeping the chana to dry for 8 hours and when I started kneading it is still sticky. Could you please suggest the right way to get the dry chana so that it is not sticky.
put it in a muslin cloth and bring the ends together to squeeze water, then hang it for few hours.
I did hang it to dry for almost 8 hours. Is it required to use a muslin cloth. I used a thin cotton cloth.
you need something through which water can seep through. looks like the cloth you are using isn’t allowing that to happen and hence it’s not drying out.
Hi,
Tried making this today, but the balls are a little hard and not too sweet. I followed the recipe to the T.. the kheer is fine.. will try making the balls again. Can u help please
even if you followed the recipe, getting the perfect rasmalai takes some practice 🙂 balls are little hard, it means you squeezed way too much moisture from the chena. you have to squeeze the moisture out but chena should not be completely dry, this is easier to say but what’s the right stage to stop, that comes with practice. I would say make it again!
Hi Manali, thank you for this easy to follow recipe. I found your tips really useful and my Rasmalai turned out beautifully at my first attempt. This was unexpected as I always thought it was so difficult to make! I won’t be buying shop bought Rasmalai now. At the same time, I have learnt to make home-made paneer too. My family are so pleased!
I made it and it turned out to be perfect thank you so much for the recipe
Thank you so much Manali. Rasmalai turned out soft ,juicy and it’s worth making at home. My family loved it.
The recipe was spot on. Turned out better than the half baked stuff in Indian sweet shops. Turns out I can make Indian desserts too. Thanks so much 🙂
I don’t have more time to make Chakka so can I use my homemade paneer instead of chakka ? Will it work?
if it’s soft and fresh then yes
Hi … my question is what can be done with the remaining sugar syrup? Can we put it to some use?
maybe make shakarpara?
Hi, I am not familiar with Rasmalai (although I know lots of Indian sweets and food) but I saw it on the net and wanted to try it out. But …. my start was bad ! Boiled the milk, turned off the knob, waited and then poured vinegar mixed with water, in it.
It was not getting thicker. What can I do ?
you mean it wasn’t curdling? you just had to keep adding more vinegar/lemon juice, that’s all
Mine rasmalai got broken don’t know why.
too much moisture, you should have squeezed more moisture from the chena
What’s Chena?!
cheese curd, which we get after curdling the milk with vinegar/lemon juice
Is there any trick to knowing when the balls are cooked so that I don’t overcook?
usually check by 12-14 minute mark. put balls in bowl of water, if they sink they are done.
Hi Manali
Should the ball be all yellow inside when left soaked in the milk?
Some of my balls did not get soaked in milk all the way through. How can I make it soak all the way through? I did not put in fresh water I let it cool in the syrup.
hmm if balls are spongy enough, they will soak in the milk. maybe you overcooked the balls?
This is the first time that my rasmalai actually turned out to be rasmalai… In the past each time when I tried it has always been a disaster… Thank u so much for specifying each detail to make sure the dish turns out exactly how it is suppose to be…
Hi Manali Mam..My name is malvika..from Odisha..
.. I tried this recepie … The balls became hard after refrigeration… but were very much softer before refrigeration when i put those in the thickened milk… I need your guidance.. Why balls became hard..
Hi Malvika, looks like you squeezed way too much water from chena hence the resulting rasmalai was hard. Try again!
Hi Manali… Can u Pls tell me for how long can rasmalai be stored in fridge? Also can the Chena be stored in fridge for a day n start with rasmalai procedure the next day? Pls help..
Rasmalai is good for 3-5 days in fridge. You can make chena in advance though I have not tried it, should be okay. Bring it to room temperature, knead and then proceed.
Hi. My chena was moist so i kept on adding corn flour to make balls. What shall i do now
Your rasmalai won’t turn out as well as you want it now unfortunately. However, you can thicken some milk and add the chena to that and make kheer.
Is it necessary to make chenna at home or we can buy it from market (chess)
make at home please
Why did the balls get too sticky? And when I dropped them into the sugar syrup they all fell apart ? what did I do wrong?
Payal please try again. looks like you chena had more water than needed, should have squeezed it more. You have squeeze enough water from the chena but it should still feel a little moist , now this usually comes with experience, hard to even explain. Rasmalai is not an easy dessert to make at home and it takes some practice to get it right. So try again with all the tips.
Hi Manali, Thank you for the step by step recipe.
My Rasmalai balls got hard… Chenna was not too dry. In fact it was wet… Size got double when it’s started boiling. But when removed from sugar syrup it’s become hard. What is the reason. Do I need to add more corn flour. Can you please guide me. Thank you so much in advance. Regards, Vaishali
Hi Vaishali, that’s strange. Usually balls are hard either when you squeezed way too much water from chena or you over cooked the balls. Try again, you may skip the corn flour. Try cooking for slightly less time, each gas is different so timing may differ.
hey i did exactly what has been instructed although whilst cooking them in the sugar syrup the balls first doubled the size then shrunk back down smaller after the 15-17 minutes of cooking on high flame.
everything else was perfect just went smaller 🙁
if you could advice anything
thank you
my guess is you overcooked them, try less time next time. each gas can be different and hence cooking time changes
Hi, Its was my father’s birthday yesterday and I cooked it due to lockdown. I must say, It turned out PERFECT. I and my family loved it alot. I’ve e-mailed you the picture too. 🙂
God bless you.
I tried the recipe but my rasmalayi balls started to melt when added in sugar syrup. ?
because you didn’t squeeze enough water from the balls. Try again!
Made it
Perfect recipe ..
Bahot mast spongy hui h rasmalai ..????
Thank you so much
One query Ma’am ..
If we want to make rasgullas
What would be the sugar n water ratio ..
Is it same or more sugar ??
Glad to know Tanvi! for Rasgullas use the same ratio while boiling the rasgullas. For extra sweetness, you can make another sugar syrup and dip them in that.
Also another question is I’m making this for my International Cuisine class and theres 15 students and a professor so 16. So what should the yield be instead? if its 5 serving what would you recommend. The balls I would make small for variety
If there are 16 people, use 2 liters of whole milk.
When making the balls if i’m making 15-16 how small is small?
I am not sure, I never measured the size. divide the chena by 15 and then use a kitchen scale to make sure all 15 balls are equal.
Hi, thanks for the very detailed recipe. I tried making it three times- all the three times it has come out hard and rubbery and didn’t absorb the milk at all. I had kneaded the chena till it was smooth- around 5 mins. The balls increased in size when I put it into sugar syrup, but when I removed it and tried to squeeze out hardly any syrup was there. I tasted it also, was not very sweet. Since overcooking, I read , was one of the reasons for hard balls this time I cooked for only 5-6 minutes and they were done. What else can go wrong?
these balls do not get done in 5 minutes. Definitely needs more time. If you ball is hard it means you are squeezing out way too much water from the chena. It should always feel little moist (but not wet). try again, rasmalai does take some practice to get it right.
Hi am making this recipe now .
I strained the chena added th cornflour but the finish is running i cant have the ball .
What do i do pls
Bobby
I am not sure if I understand the problem, you mean you are not getting the balls? you need to squeeze the chena more and then try again
Hii Ma’am
What should be done in case the dough is too soft after mashing for 10 minutes.
it means the chena has more moisture than needed, you should have squeezed more water before mashing
I’m wondering if this curdling process is ok to use for processed milk? In a different recipe, I read that this method is only ok for pure milk straight from milk man. Is this true? I used another recipe and they turned rubber. I’m so sad. Will try yours tomorrow. Also if I make disc instead, will they drop to the bottom of syrup when done as well because mine stayed afloat And I was worried about over cooking
unprocessed milk definitely gives better results however you can still make rasmalai from processed milk which comes in packets. your rasmalai was rubbery because either you squeezed way too much water from the chena or you over cooked the balls…try again, rasmalai takes some practice to get it right
Maybe I am confused. I have homogenized milk in a jug from the store. Will this type of milk work with your process? I cooked them for 9 minutes per the cooking time for the other recipe and the chenna was still very moist. Maybe ill practice a few more times. But please tell me if this cuddling process is ok for American store bought milk jugs. Thanks for your speedy response. I will be trying to make Gulab Jamun next. Do you have a recipe to share?
American store bought milk should be okay though I am confused about the jug part, do you mean the milk cartons? Anyway do try again, like I said it needs practice. Yes, I have a gulab jamun recipe, here it is: https://www.cookwithmanali.com/gulab-jamun/
I followed the instructions exactly step by step. It turned out perfect just like we get from sweet shops. Do read the points, it is very very important. Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe along with tips and tricks ??
glad it was helpful Afreen! 🙂
Can I make and freeze it for the next couple of days (3-4 days) then thaw over night in the fridge?
Also if yes to the freezing part, should we make the while thing and freeze or only the balls? At what stage?
TIA
Hi Sana, I think you can make the whole thing and then freeze. I have never tried freezing so can’t say it if it will work or not
Really good but if we can use rasgulla or rasgulli in bacha hua malai of rad malai?
yes you may
yes you may…
Thanks so much Manali for the penultimate recipe. This is the second time i made rasmalai.. First time i made it for Ganesh chaturthi following a recipe from some other website and it was all rubbery. TODAY for diwali i followed your recipe to the T.. and the result was not just perfect but more than perfect. Looking at the rasmalais that i made i almost thought of giving up being a doctor and turning into Halwai.. Jokes apart… i made the recipe using 7 litres Milk… its absolutely delicious and melting in the mouth.. THE BEST RASMALAI RECIPE ON INTERNET… HANDS DOWN….HAPPY DIWALI ..
haha! I am so glad to hear that! Happy Diwali!! 🙂
Hi I am making this recipe right now but my milk did not curdle. Even though i have followed the steps
you should have just added more of the curdling agent if milk doesn’t curdle. If lemon juice doesn’t work, try vinegar
Thanks for the recipien..can u let me know y does malai turn rubbery?
either you squeezed too much water from the chena or you overcooked the balls..
If we add milk cream instead of milk how much cream needed?
you mean heavy cream? no we need milk only to make rasmalai, no substitutions
Loved the recipe and the detailing, my first attempt and it came out perfect, thank you so very much.
welcome!
quick question, it says to put the cooled-down rasmalai in sugar syrup before putting in the thickened milk. Do you use the same syrup you made for boiling them in (cold) or prepare a new one? which ration sugar/water?
Many thanks!
it’s the same syrup…you just add them to whatever syrup is left from boiling them before…
thanks – tried it out yesterday, but was majorly struggling with the consistency of the chena… even used a cloth to try get some of the water out, but it kinda just squeezed through the cloth, so I ended up spooning it into the boiling syrup. It still came up OK and held together, but somehow I did not manage to squeeze the water out, nor with my hands for the cloth (and then of course I had a lot of the chena stuck to the cloth). Where did I go wrong?
maybe use a better muslin cloth? looks like the cloth you used was super thin…try with a sturdier one. that’s the only reason why I can think that chena would come out of cloth. If you going to use the same cloth, fold it once and then use
thank you. will give that a try next time.
They came out delicious.. loved the way you put the points? Will try more recipes from your site.
good to know Swetha 🙂
its too gud… can we use the corn starch in place of corn flour?
yes!
Can we use any other flour in place of corn flour like rice flour?
I will just skip it
Hi Manali,
I just want to confirm is this corn flour or corn starch.
Sumeet
you can use either..I have used cornflour here
Turned out super,thanks for every step earlier i used to add lemon when milk started boiling result was rubbery chenà this time came out super. Curdled chena was 225grams I made 11 pcs. Outcome was professional rasmalai.
Awesome!
Hi manali, my radgulla got dssolved in sugar syrup. How come. Nisha
you didn’t drain out the moisture from the rasgulla properly, that’s why. next time, squeeze out the water more. hope this helps!
Thanks to you now I know why my previous attempts resulted in hard rasmalai and dry non-cohesive chhenna.
Thank you very much for the critically important tips.
You are welcome! hope the next attempt is successful
Hi Manali,
How many rasmalai balls we get from 1 ltr?
Thanks
depends, if you make large balls maybe 8-10 else 15-16!
Rasmalai is my favorite. Thanks for sharing such a great and detailed recipe.
Turned out just perfect ! Thanks a lot 🙂
you are welcome!
2nd time I’m making this recipe rasmalai.
2nd time it turned out well.
It’s a good recipe if followed to the letter.
good to know!
Do you put the the cooked balls back in syrup after you put them in cold water?
yes, it’s mentioned in the recipe “Take out the cooled down rasmalai balls from the fresh water bowl. Squeeze and flatten lightly using your hands and put in sugar syrup for around 10-15 minutes [so that they absorb the sugar] before transferring them to milk. “
Prepared today.Came perfectly.
Thanks for sharing the wonderful recipe
You are welcome! It’s my favorite sweet 🙂
Hi,this is chef Alex pereira,I just wanted a brief idea of rasmalai so that I can try and I got lots more in detail,thankyou for sharing the love of food,the sweet rasmalai.hope to meet u some day in Goa when I’ll run my own restaurant,ill definitely put this on my menu.
all the best for your restaurant! 🙂
Excellent! Tips
Appreciate it I’ll definitely try n send u the pictures. Kindly send me ur email address.
Hi Kiran, you can email me at manali@cookwithmanali.com
Hi manali
Milk didnt reside inside my rasmalais inside they were white
your milk wasn’t as thick as it should be, that’s why
Thank you so much dear for sharing such detailed step wise recipe and those 10 points..very very helpful.?Turned out so soft.. everyone liked it so much..
Please clarify one thing.Why the rasmalai turned out flat and is not like the one in your picture..that one thing is missing.except that everything went well Thanks again.
Geetha, rasmalai is supposed to be flat so it’s good yours was flat.. I kept mine more as a rasgulla in this picture ..If you want them to be round, just give the balls enough space while they are boiling in sugar syrup. hope this helps
I’d love to do it my self but I go to the store to get it and I know that every store make them completely different