Homemade Angoori Rabdi

 

|| Ingredients ||

 

To prepare chhena balls:

 

Milk - 1/2 litre

 

Sugar - 1 cup

 

Water - 2 + 1/2 cups

 

Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp (mixed with 2 tbsp water)

 

To prepare the thickened milk:

 

Milk - 1 litre

 

Sugar - 1/4 cup

 

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

 

Dry fruits of your choice. (Cashew, almonds, pistachios, etc)

 

Saffron (Optional) - 5 to 6 strands.

 

|| Method ||

 

To prepare chhena balls:

 

Boil the milk and then switch of the flame. Then stir it a bit to remove the steam.

 

After 5 to 6 minutes, when it slightly cools down, add lemon juice slowly. You will see that the milk gets curdled. When it gets fully curdled, the milk separates into whey and chhena (Paneer).

 

Now strain this.

{Process: Take a big bowl, keep a strainer on it, keep a cotton cloth on the strainer, and then strain the chhena. Chhena will be left in the cloth.} 

 

Now wash it with water while it is on the cloth. This is to remove the lemon’s sourness. Squeeze it by crumpling up the cloth and tightening it. This removes the water. Hang this cloth with the chhena for 10 to 15 minutes. 

 

Now take it out of the cloth. Mash it with the help of your palm. For about 8 to 10 minutes. It starts releasing fat and you will know when it binds. It also becomes like a  dough. 

 

Make very small balls of this chhena dough. There should be no cracks in them. 

 

In a cooker add 2 + 1/2 cups water to it along with 1 cup sugar. Let the sugar melts and comes to a boil add the balls slowly, close the lid. After you hear 1 whistle, let it cook for 15 minutes.

 

Once it is cooked, let the cooker cool down on its own.

 

To prepare the thickened milk:

 

Take a vessel, pour in the milk, and put it on the flame.

 

When you see the first boil, simmer the flame. Stir the milk every once in a while. For the milk to get thickened, it will take about 30-45 minutes to thicken the milk.

 

When the milk starts thickening, then add the sugar, cardamom powder, saffron and all the dry fruits.

 

Then take the chenna balls out from the cooker and strain them.

 

Add the balls to the thickened milk. Cook again for 5 to 6 minutes.

 

Then switch off the flame. When it comes to room temperature, put it in the fridge, for about 2 hours.

 

|| Notes ||

 

When you simmer the gas after the first whistle, while cooking chhena balls, 2 or 3 more whistles might come. Don't worry, this is normal.

 

You can also grind the dry fruits if you don't like big chunks.

 

If you don't have saffron, then add 1/2 a pinch of Turmeric powder to give the color.

 

Don't thicken the milk too much.