Rasmalai is a very famous Indian dessert made from paneer (Indian cottage cheese) balls cooked in milk and garnished with saffron, cardamoms and chopped pistachios.
Traditionally, or atleast the method I knew for making rasmalai used to be very tedious. It involved first making the Rasgullas and then squeezing out the sweet sugar syrup from the balls before cooking them in the milk again.
It is a lengthy process and squeezing rasgullas is no fun especially if one has to make a lot of rasmalai for party or pot luck. I wanted to simplify this two fold process and I was ecstatic when my experiment with Instant Pot came through successfully.
I share this receipe with great happiness with you all and hope you will also try and savor the awesome taste of Rasmalai.
Making Paneer in instant pot:
In order to make rasmalai, I prefer home made paneer using Instant Pot. Milk is boiled by pressing "Yogurt" setting until it shows "Boil". Once the cycle is complete, add and stir in the vinegar.
After a few minutes milk solids and whey will separate. Filter out and rinse the paneer and gently squeeze out the excess water. The goal is to have a firm paneer which is moist and not very dry.
It is highly recommended to refrigerate it for few hours or even a day as it helps to firm the paneer further. It also helps while kneading which is the next important step.
If needed, please refer my blog on how to make paneer in instant pot for an elaborate process.
How to knead paneer
It is very important to knead the paneer well before making the balls. A food processor can be used to knead the refrigerated paneer. Refrigeration of paneer overnight not only helps in making it firm but also helps keep its temperature low while kneading thereby, avoiding release of any fat. By the time the kneading is done and balls are made, the paneer comes to the room temperature.
My personal experience has been that rasmalai turns out better in softness and sponginess when paneer is kneaded in a food processor rather than done manually. Also, food processor is much faster and much less effort.
It just takes a minute or so to knead paneer in pulse mode (button needs to be pressed intermittently). The paneer is ready for use when it feels smooth and soft to touch and does not stick to the palm while making balls.
Making paneer balls:
Divide the kneaded paneer into small pieces to make balls of approximately less than an inch in diameter (8-9 grams). Roll the paneer piece between your palms with some pressure until it makes a nice smooth ball. In a 3 qt instant pot, about 10 balls of this size can be cooked at a time.
Making Rasmalai in Instant Pot:
Although we made paneer balls, the final shape of rasmalai is flat like a disc. Also, the consistency of the milk syrup needs to be thicker so I use non homogenized full fat milk. I use 3qt pot hence, 2 cups of milk is more than enough. In fact it is important that the milk level in instant pot is such that the paneer balls are showing and not submerged. This also helps in making the balls flat during the cooking cycle. At this stage, the process is very simple, just pour the milk, add the sugar and put the paneer balls. Close the lid in sealing position and let is cook on high pressure mode for 12 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
After opening the lid, add little evaporated milk, saffron, cardamom powder and chopped pistachios. To save time and effort, I sometimes use a teaspoon of Everest kesari milk masala which is an exotic, nuts and spices blend and can be used in other Indian desserts.
Evaporated milk helps in making perfect thick consistency and adds a delicious creamy taste to the milk syrup. Just give a quick swirl to the container to mix all the ingredients and then refrigerate for few hours before serving.
Serving Rasmalai:
Rasmalai is a dessert which is best served chilled. About 2 pieces with few tablespoons of milk syrup is a good serving size. Some people like to garnish further with chopped nuts and few drops of rose water.
Don''t forget to check out these delicious Indian dessert recipes made in the instant pot.
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Instant Pot Rasmalai - Dessert
Ingredients
To make Paneer
- 4 cup Full fat milk (or whole milk)
- 2 tablespoon Vinegar
To make Rasmalai
- 2 cup Full fat milk (or whole milk)
- ½ cup Evaporated milk
- 6 tablespoon Organic cane sugar
- Few Saffron strands
- ⅛ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- ½ tablespoon Chopped pistachios
Instructions
Making Paneer (About 90 grams needed for this recipe)
- Pour 4 cup milk in the instant pot and select Yogt mode until it shows "Boil"
- Once milk is boiled, select "Cancel", add the vinegar and stir with a spoon. Let it rest for about 5 minutes until all whey and milk solids are separated.
- Rinse the paneer under cold running water until all sourness is gone. Sqeeze out excess water. For complete recipe, refer to my blog on How to make Paneer in Instant Pot
Making Rasmalai
- Preferably refrigerate the paneer for few hours or overnight to help with firming process.
- Knead the paneer in food processor by applying intermittent pulses for about a minute until it is smooth and soft and does not stick to palm when making a ball
- Remove the paneer from the food processor and make a smooth ball.
- Make around 9-10 balls (9-10 grams each) from the paneer, less than an inch in diameter.
- Pour 2 cups of milk and 6 tablespoon sugar in the instant pot. Add the paneer balls.
- Lock the lid in sealing position and select High pressure mode for 12 minutes followed by natural pressure release.
- After opening the lid, pour the evaporated milk.
- Add the saffron strands, cardamom and pistachios.
- Refrigerate for about 6 hours before serving.
To make a bigger batch of ras malai in 6 qt instant pot, please check the notes*
Notes
- Please do not use ultra-pasteurized milk to make paneer or to make rasmalai syrup.
- If your food processor is too big to knead paneer, you can knead it by hand for 5-10 minutes until it is smooth, soft, and does not stick to your palm. You don't want the fat to be released from paneer.
- Make about 20-22 paneer balls of 10 grams each.
- Pour 4 ½ cups milk and ¾ cup sugar into the instant pot.
- Drop the paneer balls gently in the instant pot.
- Pressure cook for 12 minutes on high-pressure mode followed by natural pressure release.
- Pour 1 cup evaporated milk, ½ teaspoon cardamom powder, 10-15 strands of saffron, 1 tablespoon sliced pistachio, and refrigerate for 5-6 hours before serving.
If you love rasgullas, check out my easy recipe to make Rasgulla in Instant Pot
Varghese says
This is an excellent recipe. I made it with double the quantity and I have never had such soft and tasty Rasmalai.
thank you for the excellent directions!!
Alpa Jain says
Hi Varghese,
I am glad to know you enjoyed my recipe. Thankyou for the feedback 🙂
Cheers,
Alpa
Victoria Benoit says
Seems easy. Will try to make as my husband loves this dessert. Thank you.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Victoria,
Glad to know you found my recipe to be easy. Let me know how it turns out.
Regards
Alpa
Harkiran says
Can this recipe be made in 8qt instant pot? If yes, What changes should be made? Thanks
Alpa Jain says
Hi Harkiran,
You should be able to double the recipe for 8 qt. Just make sure the paneer balls are only slightly above the milk level, else adjust by adding little milk and sugar.
Regards
Alpa
Vina says
Hello Rasmalai did not flatten and did not absorb the milk once done. The balls remain white inside
Alpa Jain says
Hi Vina,
Sorry to hear that. I would suggest double checking that you cook rasmalai on high pressure mode and not low pressure.
Regards
Alpa
Vina says
I did high pressure
Alpa Jain says
Vina - It can happen if the paneer was not well kneaded.
Vina Patel says
Hello I have 6 Qt instant pot. Will there will different way when I put Rasmali in instant pot?
Alpa Jain says
Please double the milk, sugar and evaporated milk. You can slightly increase the size of the paneer balls, they should be a little above milk level. You can add a few more paneer balls but not double the amount.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
vaishali patel says
turned out just perfecft!! thank you
ps can I frezz it for future use?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Vaishali
Thankyou for the feedback! Glad to know rasmalai turned out perfect. Yes, you can freeze it for future use
Regards
Alpa
Kamala says
I made this rasmalai recipe. My rasmalai didn’t flatten like you said they would, They remained as balls. Also, the texture was a little tough, not porous. I pulsed the Chenna in a food processor. Please advise.
CulinaryShades says
Hi Kamala,
Sorry to hear your rasmalai did not turn out as expected. Did you make this in 3qt? What type of milk did you use? A few things to try next time
1. Rasmalai not flattening is mainly when milk is more and paneer balls are completely immersed. Try keeping them a little above the milk level (about 20-25%). If the milk level is too low they can become chewy, so need to be careful.
2. Did you use high pressure mode? Rasmalai can be tough and non porous if it does not puff up, that usually happens when using low pressure
3. Kneading paneer well is most important. The time taken to knead may vary based on amount of paneer and size of food processor. A good test is to check how paneer feels after kneading. It should feel soft and silky. When you make a ball it should be smooth and not stick to your palm.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa