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
Thank you so much for the recipe, had a craving for Ras Malai today and despite being daunted at the thought of making it your recipe significantly decreased that and made for a really delicious dessert.
Awesome! making rasmalai isn’t hard, just needs some practice 🙂
I tried this recipe… Its excellent… My son’s loved it… Thanks
Welcome! glad you enjoyed it!
Hi.. can I make this recipe with already curdled milk ?(i.e. milk not intentionally curdled by adding any ingredients to it)
it’s best made with fresh chena…if the curdled milk has been lying for few days..I am not sure..you can try but I can’t be 100% sure about the results..
Hi Ma’am,
Tried your recipe today after trying a bunch of other recipes over the past few years. I wish to thank you because I’ve never seen a more thorough and well-explained recipe with so much attention to detail. The dish was a huge success and my normally fussy toddler ate it till she burped! 😀
Once again, thank you so much Ma’am. Wish you all the best and keep up the amazing work!
I love when recipes are kid approved, yay! 🙂 so glad to know! and please call me Manali! 🙂
I tried the milk but it not currdle fully is it a waste or can something else be tried
hmm why it didn’t curdle? You should have added more of the lemon juice until it curdled.If still somewhat curdled, I would drain the why and then use the chena to make like a kheer. Cook with chena with milk and sugar, flavor with cardamom and enjoy as a kheer.
The outcome is very good…thanks for such a nyc recipe
You are welcome!
i tried it, n it turned out amazing ,thaanks❤️
Welcome 🙂
Hi
I made this for the first time and the balls were too hard in the end. Whilst I was working with the chenna the dough was soft and not dry. Then cooked them in syrup for about 15 minutes also. Don’t understand why they were hard?
Regards
Fiza
Hi Fiza, making rasmalai at home takes some practice 🙂 hard balls definitely mean that you squeezed way too much moisture from the chena..and did not knead the chena well..don’t worry..it takes some to get it right..please try again..
How can I use this same recipe to make rasmalyis for over 25 people?
This is a wonderful recipe. Very well explained and excellent instructions. I made it today and had soft rasmalai for the first time ever!
I am so glad! 🙂
Hi, Manali
I like your recipe,but in our hometown only package milk is available. Can I use it?
yes make sure it’s whole milk!
Hi manali,
I tried your recipe today and the rasmalai just came out perfect!! I followed your instructions to the tee.Thanks for the fine points .
Glad to know! 🙂
Hi there , I have been trying to make the chenna for 3 days now (lol). I used long life milk the first few tries and I thought perhaps to try fresh milk instead but even with the freah milk the grains in the milk when curdled are not clumps but very fine fat grain’s. In your picture you have big clumps once the milk has curdled. any idea what could be causing this ? I live in south Africa , is it perhaps the milk we have thata causing the problem? I really want to make this stuff at home because everyone here makes the variety with milk powder instead and it’s just not the same.please help!!
Sorry Aadila for the late response, not sure how I missed your comment. Hmm the problem could be with the milk or the temperature of milk when you are curdling the milk..if your milk isn’t curdling well you may need boil it until it forms a dome (more than 200F) and then try adding lemon juice to it..also sometimes vinegar works better than lemon juice so you can give that a try too! hope this helps!
Hello…I want to give this recipe a try jus one question is the whole milk cows milk or full fat buffalo milk ..and can you mention for sugar syrup how much ‘ml’ is 4 cups water …Thanx
Cows milk..and 4 cups water is 32 oz (946 ml) almost a liter! hope that helps!
Thank you …I gave it a try n they came out a little soft but turned a little dense the next day…I will try again
Hello Alpa, thanks for trying! hope it’s even better the next time!
Thanks for an excellent recipe. It turned out really well. I changed the Ras recipe by using skimmed evaporated milk and it turned out very good.
glad to know Paula 🙂
Despite using whole milk it was a total disaster. I only got enough chena for five small balls, and they were just mush. I think the problem is that in the UK, even the whole milk sold by supermarkets has a very low fat content. Living in London, farm milk is not easy to come by.
I am sorry it didn’t work out for you Steve..yeah farm whole milk works best..and it has to have a high fat content for it to work..
Hi! I just made them following Manali’s recipe from the USA store bought milk. It was a mush at first as well, so I transferred chana back to muslin/cheese cloth, wrapped it well, twisted a knot and put a heavy jar filled with water on top. Let it rest like this for an hour or so. The mixture let out excess liquid, but still was soft and pliable and resembeled what Manali Gad on the picture. Everything truenes out well, even though the balls were tiny. I got 16 of them. Hope, this tip will help somebody else ?
Thanks for sharing your experience Olga! 🙂
Your recipe is so well explained. I just made it with such ease.. have to taste it now. Kept it in the fridge to cool. Thanks a lot for the recipe. ❤
P.S. The balls are perfect!!
yay! 🙂
glad to hear that Ayesha! Enjoy <3 🙂
Hi…tried the rasmalai recipe everything turned perfect but for the balls having lemon taste…is there something I can do about it ?
HI Divya
you mention that fat milk is required for rasmalai!
but i want to know what if i use toned milk? is it works?
toned milk is not recommended for making rasmalai..use whole milk!
Hii Divya this side firstly I would mention I am not a good but I am gonna tried for rasmalai but I have a question from you cornflour is necessary for the balls ?Because you can’t mention in the step by step recipe. I wanna know the real one recipe which i follow to make delicious rasmalai. Please suggest me
divya, cornflour is mentioned in the recipe… and you can skip it..I like adding it as I feel it makes the ball softer but you can skip it..
Very well explained. Very nice recipe. Thank you so much. I will definitely give it a try.
hope you like it!
Just did it. Did less on the squeezing and added powdered milk and more cornstarch (just realized recipe said cornflour lol), but it turned out the same sticky paste. Nonetheless, the balls are soft on the end stage, and now I’m waiting on them to cool, so I’m almost confident they’ll stay soft!
Pro tip: add some rose water for a killing combo!!
hope it worked well in the end 🙂
Hay Manali..thank you for nice recipe ..I am first time gonna try it on this holi festival.. I live in Japan..and there is no such sweets are available..my husband is fond of sweets…so gonna try it for him..hope I will make it good..Thank you
i tried it for the 1st tym n it was superb!!.. thnx manali ur instructions really helped?.
Glad it turned out well for you Farah! 🙂
Its a complete recipie with all tricks. I prepared it last night the outcome was just delicious. The only thing i will be more careful next time is washing the chenna. Ras malai was giving a little aroma of lemon?
Thanks for sharing your recipie.
Glad you liked it sadaf! and yes chena has to be washed nicely else it will smell of lemon!
Hii
I’m guessing I over cooked my chenna balls …
It was dbl the size while boiling in sugar syrup after some time their size decreased ..
However I put them into the thickned milk … but after 5 hrs the balls are hard and when I broke them the inside is still white and has not absorbed any of the milk ..
Is it tat I hav to leave it for some more tym or is there something wrong ..
Awaiting for ur reply.
Hi Sonika, if rasgullas had creamy yogurt kind of texture then they are under-cooked, you should have cooked them more. I think your chena had water, should have squeezed more. Next time, try hanging the chena for 45 minutes before kneading it!
Thank u
But my rasgulas weren’t creamy ,
After letting it cool in the sugar syrup I couldn’t flatten them if I had put more pressure they would hav broken ….
and regarding the water in the chennas it wasn’t too moist when I was kneeding although they wer sticking to my hands …. so I Added 2 tsp of corn flour…
Was that the wrong way ??
Sonika if it was sticking to your hand a lot that means that water wasn’t squeezed well enough from the chena..like I said, next time try hanging the chena for 45 minutes, knead and then try again. Adding corn flour is okay, you may add 1 teaspoon and it is optional, you may or may not add it. hope this helps!
I used vinegar is it ok
You may use vinegar, but in my personal experience vinegar is better for making paneer when we are looking for a firm consistency. For chena, I prefer lemon or yogurt.
Great recipe. Very detailed. My daughter has Celiac and I wanted to make sure that the rasmalais she eats are gluten free. So for the first time ever, I tried my hand at making them at home and with your recipe they turned out perfect.
A big thanks for sharing….
I am so happy to hear that Anshula! Hope your daughter enjoyed it! 🙂
Thanks for your stepwise instructions. I tried your recipe and my rasmalai came out really well.
Glad to hear that Soma, thanks for sharing your feedback 🙂
Hey excellent recipe.it was just perfectly instructed….thanks a lot
Welcome Shraddha! glad it was helpful..
It contains oil, please reply
I am sorry I didn’t get you? Is the rasmalai breaking? That means you had to squeeze more water from the balls!
My rasmalai turns hard I made my chena from full fat milk and I cook chena balls in doodh directly in the beginning ballwiillexpends but when I off the flame it turn hard by the time plz rely
hmm hard rasmalai means you squeezed out way too much water from the chena and did not knead it well..no worries, try again, you will get it right!
I added some cake flour and arrow root powder because I didn’t squeeze the chena enough. I tried a piece and it was ok, but I’m sure it would be better if I squeezed out more of the liquid. Thanks for the great recipe!
Glad you liked it!
My rasmalai gone hard
?
hmm..that can happen, it needs little practice. Don’t worry, try again. I would recommend not squeezing the heck out of the chena, it should always feel a little moist. If you squeeze it way too much then rasmalai will turn hard, hope this helps!
Hi Manali,
Is cornflour the same thing as “besan” or is it kind of like “corn starch”?
cornflour is not besan, cornstarch and cornflour can be used interchangeably.
Super flop recipe ..i tried twice but end up with the mess..total waste of time and money
I am sorry it didn’t work out for you Shumaila…I have made this so many times and this is a full proof recipe in my opinion. As you can see in the comments, it has worked well for so many readers! Thanks for trying anyway.
Hi Manali,
I made the the Rasmalai following your detailed recipe, it came out pretty well.
However can you clarify the following:
1) After taking out the Rasmalai balls from sugar syrup, do i need to squeeze all the sugar syrup before droping them in the thickened mlk
2)What should be consistency of the thickened milk , as in my case it looks like the Rasmalai balls did not soak the milk inspite of keeping them soaked for more than 12 hours, my thickened milk was really thick.
On the whole i thoroughly enjoyed the entire process of making rasmalai and
my rasmalais tasted pretty good except the malais were lacking enough ras.
Many thanks
Have a good Day
1. Yes squeezing would help in the balls soaking the sugar syrup better.
2. the ras should not be very thick. it is not rabri so keep that in mind. Just thicken it a little.
Hope they turn even better next time.
Hi Manali,
Many thanks for very descriptive step by step recipe for making Ras malai.
I am itching to make the same soonest.
However i have the following questions:
1) 1 Cup of Sugar means 250ml or 250 grams, correct???
2) Can i use almond sliced instead of pistachios
With best Regards
Sripadhan
1 cup granulated sugar is approx 200 grams
yes you may use almonds!
Thanku so so much for sharing all these tips.
I followed a recipe yesterday for iftari (fasting) but it turned out a little hard from the center. 🙁 I wondered what got wrong. Many points from ur list were the steps that I missed. I didn’t take full fat milk. I took out the malai for ghee as I usually do.
Much love for sharing this recipe. Will try soon ☺❤
Rasmalyi is breaking what should I do
Wajeeda, rasmalai is breaking because you did not squeeze out enough moisture from the chena. Tie the chena is a muslin cloth for 30 minutes, then knead and try again. If you have put all the balls and they all have broken, you can still boil all and then put broken rasgullas in thickened milk to make rabdi/kheer.
Thank you so much for posting such a detailed recipe and for replying to every comment with detail. Because of your notes and comments, I ws able to make Rasmalai successfully on the first try.
Now I want to experiment some more. I want to drastically reduce the sugar content eithout using artificial sweeteners. Is there a way to expand the chhana balls without boiling them in 4:1 sugar solution? I was thinking about using butter or ghee to increase flavor instead of so much sugar, but I’m not sure if the balls would expand properly tht way. Any suggestions? Would they expans if I cooked them in ghee?
You are welcome Megha, I am glad you liked the recipe. Hmm I don’t think the chena balls will exapnd in ghee or butter. You can try using low calorie sweeteners available in the market. Other than that, I am not sure if there’s a way to reduce the sugar quantity. You can obviously use less sugar if you don’t mind eating rasmalai that isn’t very sweet! Hope that helps!
Can i make with homogenïsed/pasteurised milk ?
In my experience it doesn’t give that good results.
Hi Manali unfortunately it didn’t work for me. The chena was too soft even after squeezing water as best I could using a steel strainer (on further squeezing) the chena was getting strained and so had to stop. Not sure what went wrong I tried twice following the steps you mentioned.
Dibyendu
Hi Dibyendu, sorry it didn’t work for you. I just made them again yesterday and they came out perfect, it does take some time to get these right. I advise you to tie the chena in a cheese cloth and leave it hanging for 1 hour and then use in the recipe. Give it another shot, it will work! Indian sweets are hard to get right in first few tries, just speaking from personal experience. Hope that helps!
Hi Manali
Came across your page last week n tried ras malai today. As mentioned by someone even I cud get 11 mini balls. Taste was awesome and also were super soft but they were not pillable I had difficulty shaping them luckily they did not break. While cooking in sugar syrup one of them developed crack. PS I used thandai masala for a twist.
Thandai masala twist sounds fun, hope you enjoyed them Manisha. Difficulty in shaping could be due to excessive moisture in the chena so just try to drain out a bit more next time!
Very nicely explained.
Hi Manali!
What kind of milk do I need? Milk from the store – homogenized/pasteurized or fresh milk from a farmer which has not been boiled at all?
Thank you for your help!
Katrin
fresh milk from farm which has not been boiled would work best!
Hi Manali!
I tried your recipe and it was really good. I enjoyed making the rasmalai balls.
i would like to know how the ras given in rasmalai in hotels etc are more liquid-y than what i prepared. I also found the ras quite less for all the rasmalai balls. Should the sugar syrup be added to the ras?
Otherwise they came out so good, soft and tasty..
Thank you!
if you want a liquid-y ras simply boil the milk for a lesser amount of time! you may add sugar syrup to the ras, it will make it more sweeter!
Excellent, excellent recipe. I followed it step by step and made 9 big rasmalai. It’s my husband’s favorite sweet dish, so I made it to surprise him on his birthday. It was my first time making it, and it tastes delicious! Perfect shape, sponginess and texture. Thank you very much!
Welcome Deepthi! Glad you liked them!
Hi. I followed the same instructions but my malai got totally spoiled while boiling. I just thrower everything in bin.
Hi John, sorry it didn’t turn out well for you. Rasmalai is not a very easy sweet to make, it does take some practice to get it right. So if you keep trying, you will get it right!
Hi, please can you tell me how much chenna you got from 1 litter milk. Because i have paneer which i want to use. So much paneer should i use for this recipe. Thanks
Do use fresh chena for this recipe, that works the best. Pre-made paneer will not give the same result.
Mam just now finished making apart from bit cracks rasmalai shape is perfect thank you once again for your lovely recipe Love you mam ☺?
I hope you enjoyed them Swetha!
Hi manali mam , your recipe description and look is totally tempting on 18th of this month it’s my dad birthday so thinking to surprise him with this delicacy shall make tomorrow and praying to God it should turn yummy ? My doubt is iam thinking to make ras adding condensed milk can i and how to please reply me
Hello Swetha! yes you can make ras using condensed milk. Once the milk has reduced a little, around 15 minutes add condensed milk in place of sugar. Start adding 1 tablespoon at a time and add more as required else the ras will become too sweet. I hope that helps! and wish your dad a very Happy Birthday. Hope he enjoys the treat! 🙂
Thank you for the quick reply mam
Mam just now finished making apart from bit cracks rasmalai shape came out perfect thank you once again for your lovely recipe Love you mam ☺?
I have extra ball left can i freeze them?
I have never tried freezing so can’t comment but you can try