Nolen Gur Cha Rasmalai is an interesting variation of the classic creamy, luscious, festive Indian dessert -Rasmalai. This is made of soft and spongy cottage cheese balls dipped in Nolen Gur tea flavoured thickened milk and garnished with chopped pistachios and almonds.
If you know me and have been following my blog, you very well know by now that I don’t quite like white sugar and all my recipes are made without refined white sugar. That’s one of the reasons why I had to re-make this classic dish (which is usually made with lots of white sugar) with Nolen Gur or Bengal date palm jaggery (one of my favorite kinds of Jaggery!)
Now you might be thinking why tea in Rasmalai? But let me tell you I haven’t used any ordinary tea but instead this really special tea from Karma Kettle‘s gourmet tea collection called Nolen Gur Cha which pays a special tribute to Kolkata with the use of Nolen Gur (Bengal Palm jaggery) and dates.
The tea when brewed releases a soft caramel/ sweet aroma and flavour into the tea which perfectly compliments this dish. The subtle sweetness from dates and Nolen Gur leaves you longing for a little more and that’s why I have added it to this dish in the form of Jaggery tea syrup that elevates this dessert by another notch.
By the way did you know that the name rasmalai basically means juicy milk cream derived from Bengali words -‘rosh’, meaning ‘juice’, and malai, meaning ‘milk cream’. And true to it’s name, this Indian dessert is juicy, creamy and so absolutely delicious. Now making this dish is no east feat and there are no shortcuts if you want that perfect Nolen Gur Cha Rasmalai or Jaggery Tea Rasmalai, and like somebody wise said that the fruit of your labour will definitely be sweet – just like this Gur Rasmalai!
To make this recipe easy to understand I have broken it down into simpler sections:
How to make chenna (cottage cheese)
How to make chenna balls/cottage cheese balls
How to cook chenna balls/cottage cheese balls
How to make the Karma Kettle tea and jaggery sauce
How to make the Rabri
How to assemble the Nolen Gur Cha Rasmalai or Jaggery Rasmalai
Here’s hoping that you try this melt in mouth recipe of Nolen Gur cha Rasmalai or Jaggery Rasmalai out and enjoy every bit of this sweet treat!
Rasmalai is a classic creamy, luscious, festive Indian dessert with origins in the eastern parts of India. Nolen Gur Cha Rasmalai is an interesting variation of Rasmalai with soft and spongy cottage cheese balls dipped in Nolen Gur tea flavoured thickened milk and garnished with chopped pistachios and almonds.
- 1 litre full fat milk OR whole milk
- 2-3 tbsp vinegar or lime juice
- 1 tsp cornstarch OR maida
- 1 cup date palm jaggery OR nolen Gur (grated or powdered)
- 3 cup water
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tsp Karma Kettle Nolen Gura Cha/ Tea leaves
- 1 tsp Karma Kettle Nolen Gura Cha/ Tea leaves
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup date palm jaggery OR nolen Gur grated/powdered
- 3/4 litre milk
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 10-12 chopped pistachios or almonds (for garnish)
-
Heat the milk in a pan and bring it to boil.
-
Reduce the flame and add 1 tsp vinegar or lime juice at a time and stir. Repeat the process with remaining lime juice or vinegar till the milk curdles completely and turn off the stove.
-
Strain it with cheesecloth /muslin cloth and rinse under running water to get rid of any sour taste to go away.
-
Now wrap the chenna in the cheesecloth /muslin cloth and squeeze out extra water and make a knot. Hang it for about 45 minutes to drain off the excess water.
-
You can alternatively put it under a heavy object for 15-20 minutes. This is an important step and make sure that the chenna is neither excessive moist or dripping with whey and nor should be too dry.
-
Transfer the Chenna to a plate and knead the chenna with cornstarch by mashing with your hand for at least 3-5 minutes until you get a smooth dough.
-
The texture after kneading should be non-grainy or your hands become slightly greasy. It will take around 8-10 minutes to get a smooth dough.
-
Divide the dough into equal portions and make small, round balls. If there are any cracks, roll and smoothen the sides.
-
Make sure they are no cracks or else they will break while cooking.
-
Heat water in a wide bottomed pan and add jaggery, Karma Kettle Nolen Gur Cha tea leaves and cardamom powder. Stir well till the jaggery is mixed well.
-
Bring them together to boil until jaggery melts. The syrup must be of a runny consistency.
-
Add the chenna balls slowly one by one to the hot bubbling syrup. Cover with a lid and let it cook for 10-11 minutes over high flame.
-
When you remove the lid, the balls would have increased in size.
-
Turn off and Remove from flame and keep it covered for 15-20 minutes and soaked in syrup so that they don't deflate. Let them cool down.
-
Boil 1 cup water and add 1 tsp of Karma Kettle Nolen Gur Cha tea leaves. Add 1/2 cup grated or powdered date palm jaggery OR nolen Gur to this.
-
Let it cook on medium flame for 5-8 minutes till it has reduced to a thick syrup/sauce like consistency.
-
Let it cool.
-
Pour the milk in a heavy bottom pan and let it boil.
-
Once the milk has boiled, add saffron and cardamom powder.
-
Reduce the flame to medium and let it slowly boil while continuously stirring and scraping the sides every 3-4 minutes to ensure the milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
-
Keep doing the process till milk thickens and reduces to half the quantity.
-
Set it aside to cool down.
-
Add Karma Kettle Nolen Gur Cha sauce/syrup to the Rabri and mix well.
-
Take the chenna balls and squeeze them in between your palms to drain off the excess sugar syrup and add them to a bowl.
-
Pour the thickened rabri on top of the chenna balls and drizzle some more Karma Kettle Nolen Gur Cha syrup from the top.
-
Keep in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
-
Garnish with chopped pistachios and almonds.
- Adjust the level of sweetness as per your taste by increasing/decreasing the jaggery sauce being added to the Rabri.
- The chenna for making the chenna balls should not be too dry or too moist. If it’s too moist, they will break while cooking. If it is too dry chenna balls will turn hard.
- Also make sure the Chenna balls don’t have any cracks otherwise they will break while cooking.
- Do not over knead the chenna, or else the chenna balls will turn too dry and become hard during cooking.
- While cooking the chenna balls in syrup, use a big pan with enough space for the balls to move and increase in size.
- While making the Rabri, don’t add the Nolen gur tea sauce/syrup into hot rabri or the milk might curdle. Let the Rabri cool and only then add the Nolen gur tea sauce/syrup
- The syrup in which Chenna balls are cooked should be of a runny consistency. If it becomes thick in between while cooking of the Chenna balls add some water.
Looking for more such refined sugar free recipes, then try out these vegan refined sugar free coconut date balls or this Homemade refined sugar free applesauce recipe!!
Leave a Reply