Rasmalai: The Perfect Dessert for Any Occasion
Our Rasmalai is a firm favourite on our dessert menu. Creamy, melt-in-the-mouth cakes of fresh cheese are soaked in a creamy milk syrup, flavoured with cardamom and saffron. This dessert is subtly sweet, refreshing and rich. It is considered a royal sweet, served at weddings and festival celebrations, but it is perfect for any special dinner.
What is Rasmalai made of?
Small flat cakes of curd cheese (chhana), poached in syrup and soaked in a cardamom-flavoured sauce of cream and milk. The chhana may be flavoured with cardamom and sugar, or made plain.
Making rasmalai is a long process, often beginning the night before to create the right flavours, sweetness and consistency.
Making Chhana for Rasmalai
Buttermilk and whole milk are heated together in a saucepan until curds form, then cooled and strained for an hour. The mixture is kneaded until smoother than ricotta. Flour is added to make the mixture spongy and mouldable.
The syrup is simply sugar and water, with a small amount of milk added. We poach the chhana in the boiling syrup until firm, then place it into cooled sugar syrup to absorb over several hours. Then we transfer it back to the cooled milk syrup and let it stand overnight. This creates layers of sweetness and creaminess.
Finally, the chhana is served with cardamom-infused milk sauce, chopped nuts and saffron.
Itihaas: Saffron & Pistachio Rasmalai
We add saffron and chopped pistachios to the dessert, as both garnish and an additional flavour in the milk sauce.
Pistachio is having a moment in 2025, as the flavour of the summer gained new popularity in Dubai Chocolate. While we’ve added a Dubai Chocolate Cheesecake to our Kuch Meetah, our pistachio rasmalai, pistachio kulfi and chopped pistachio garnishes on our Gulab Jamun are long-standing flavours in the Maharajah cuisine we’re famous for.
Origin of Rasmalai
As with most favoured dishes from South East Asia, the origins of rasmalai are both difficult to pin down and steeped in mythology. In Bengali, Hindi and Urdu, Ras Malai means ‘sap of cream’ or ‘juice of cream’.
It is most likely a Bengali invention, either created in Kolkata in West Bengal, India, or in Comilla, in Bangladesh. Both legends include famous sweet shops, and it is possible that the idea of soaking rasgulla in a milk sauce developed in both places.
Why Rasmalai Works for Any Occasion
As a luxurious sweet, rasmalai is considered part of royal cuisine. The time taken to prepare, the quantities of milk, cream and sugar and the luxurious spices included all add up to a rich treat suitable for special occasions.
This delicious dessert is most popular during festivals such as Holi and Diwali, when sweet shops sell more than at any other time of year. It is also common at weddings and parties.
If you’re celebrating a birthday, graduation, anniversary or another event, our saffron and pistachio rasmalai will be the perfect dessert to finish your meal. If you are on the search for an Indian restaurant in Birmingham that serves rasmalai and Indian desserts that are full of sweetness and unforgettable flavour, be sure to give Itihaas a visit.
