Chhena Kheeri

The fried cubes go into the milk and the milk is then boiled down around them to a rabri.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (chhena), dairy (ghee), dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

• 400 g Chhena, as on its own page, well kneaded
• 1.5 litres whole milk
• 200 g sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 40 g pistachios and almonds, slivered
• ghee for deep frying

Method

1. THE FRIED CUBES GO INTO THE MILK AND THE MILK IS THEN BOILED DOWN AROUND THEM TO A RABRI. Its article gives the order precisely and the order is the dish: cubes of chhena are deep-fried, then ADDED TO milk and sugar, and boiled FURTHER until some of the milk evaporates and it acquires a thicker consistency, to form a rabdi. So the thickening happens with the cubes already in the pan. They give up a little of themselves into the milk as it reduces, which is what makes the finished rabri taste of cheese rather than only of milk -- and it is the difference from Rasabali, as on its own page, where the rabri is made first and the fried pieces are laid into it afterwards.
2. THEY ARE CUT AS CUBES, NOT ROLLED. Its article says cubes. Two centimetres, cut from a pressed slab of chhena, and the flat faces and sharp corners are what you see in the finished bowl.
3. GHEE IS THE FRYING MEDIUM AND OIL IS THE SANCTIONED SUBSTITUTE. Its article says ghee is typical and that cooks frequently use vegetable oil instead. Ghee gives a nuttier edge that survives the milk.
4. THEY ARE FRIED TO PALE GOLD ONLY. 160C, three minutes. They are going to spend half an hour in simmering milk, so a dark fry turns bitter by the end.
5. THE MILK IS REDUCED BY ABOUT A THIRD, SLOWLY, AND STIRRED. A litre and a half down to a litre, thirty to forty minutes at a bare simmer, scraping the skin from the sides back in as it forms. That skin is where the body of a rabri comes from.
6. THE SUGAR GOES IN AFTER THE REDUCTION HAS STARTED. Twenty minutes in. Added at the start it catches on the base during a long reduction.
7. THE CARDAMOM AND NUTS GO IN AT THE END. Off the heat, which its article gives as the seasoning step.
8. IT IS SERVED COLD AND IT THICKENS AGAIN AS IT COOLS. Take it off looser than you want it. Chilled, the reduced milk sets noticeably further.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes