Ras malai, rasamalai, or rossomalai is a dessert originating from the eastern regions of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

. The dessert is called ''rossomalai'' in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

, ''ras malai'' in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

, and ''rasa malei'' in Odia. It is popular in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The origin of the sweet is impossible to verify but there are several underlying stories. K.C. Das Grandsons claims that it was invented by K.C. Das in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. The Sen brothers of Comilla operating under the Matri Bhandar brand also claim to be the original maker of the dessert. Bangladesh has begun the process of registering

geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

status for Comillar rasmalai.

Origin and etymology

It is believed to have originated somewhere in Eastern

, presumably in the

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

region. According to ''The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink'' published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

"The term comes from Hindi ''raś'' 'juice', and ''

malai Malai (Hindi: मलाई, Urdu: ) is a type of clotted cream, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, especially, in regards to sweets from the Indian subcontinent. It is made by heating non- ...

'' 'cream'.

Ingredients

Ras malai consists of flattened balls of

chhena Chhena () or chhana () are a style of cheese, originating from the Indian subcontinent, made from water buffaloDalby, A 2009, ''Cheese: A Global History'', Reaktion Books, p. 73, Kapoor, S & Kapoor, A 2006, ''Sanjeev Kapoor's No-oil Vegetarian C ...

soaked in

(

clotted cream Clotted cream ( kw, dehen molys, sometimes called scalded, clouted, Devonshire or Cornish cream) is a thick cream made by heating full-cream cow's milk using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly. During this t ...

) flavoured with

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

. Milk is boiled and a bit of vinegar or lime juice is added to split it. The whey is discarded and the milk solids are drained, cooled and kneaded into a dough. The dough is divided into small balls and the balls are cooked in hot water with a bit of rose water added. The balls are then cooked in milk with

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma (botany), stigma and stigma (botany)#style, styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly ...

pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other spe ...

s and

kheer Kheer, also known as payasam, is a sweet dish and a type of wet pudding popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice, although rice may be substituted with one of the following: daals, bulgur whe ...

as stuffing.

Variations

Different types of ras malai can be found in different areas. In

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

and Rangpur, the rasmalais are similar in shape to the

rasgulla Rasgulla, also known as rasagola, rosogola or rosogolla, is a syrupy dessert popular in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. It is made from ball-shaped dumplings of chhena and semolina dough, cooked in light sugar syrup made of sug ...

s,and round discs.

References

External links

Bangladeshi desserts Culture in Comilla Bengali desserts Sweets of West Bengal Indian desserts Pakistani desserts Muhajir cuisine North Indian cuisine Bengali cuisine {{Bangladesh-cuisine-stub

Origin and etymology

Ingredients

Variations

See also

References

External links