Rasabali

The patties are flattened so they can absorb the thickened milk more readily.

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

Ingredients

• 400 g Chhena, as on its own page, well kneaded
• 2 tablespoons semolina
• 1.5 litres whole milk
• 180 g sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, crushed from pods
• ghee for deep frying

Method

1. THE PATTIES ARE FLATTENED SO THEY CAN ABSORB THE THICKENED MILK MORE READILY. Its article does not leave this to be inferred -- it states the reason outright: flattening the chhena into palm-sized patties is done in order to allow them to absorb the milk more readily. A ball of the same weight has far less surface and a much deeper middle, and in thick sweetened milk it stays dry at the centre. So they are pressed properly flat, a centimetre at most, and a palm across.
2. THE RABRI IS MADE FIRST AND THE PATTIES GO INTO IT AFTERWARDS. This is the order, and it is the difference from Chhena Kheeri, as on its own page: there, fried cubes go into fresh milk and the milk reduces around them. Here the milk is already thickened and sweetened when the fried patties are laid in to soak.
3. THEY ARE FRIED TO A REDDISH BROWN, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SPECIFIES. Deep fried until reddish brown -- darker than the pale gold the cubes in the other recipe want. 165C, four minutes a side.
4. THE MILK IS REDUCED BY A THIRD BEFORE THEY GO IN. A litre and a half to a litre, thirty minutes at a bare simmer, with the skin stirred back in. Then the sugar.
5. THEY SOAK FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS, OFF THE HEAT. Long enough to go from firm to spongy all the way through. This is the step the flattening exists to serve, so it is not one to shorten.
6. THE CARDAMOM IS CRUSHED FROM PODS AND ADDED TO THE MILK. Its article says the thickened milk is lightly seasoned with crushed cardamom pods. Lightly: this is a mild sweet and it is easy to overwhelm.
7. A LITTLE SEMOLINA KEEPS THE PATTIES INTACT. Two tablespoons. A flat patty has more edge to fall apart from than a ball does.
8. IT IS A TEMPLE SWEET AND IT CARRIES A GI TAG. Its article records it as an offering at the Baladevjew Temple of Kendrapara, one of the Chapana bhoga of the Jagannath Temple at Puri, and granted a geographical indication on 3 October 2023.

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