Ras malai

Method

1. 1 Bring 400 ml of milk to a boil, then turn off the heat, squeeze in the lemon juice, and let it sit for 5 minutes to allow the milk to curdle.
2. 2 Strain through a cloth, rinse with cold water, hang to dry for 30 minutes, and knead the chenna for 8 minutes until smooth like dough.
3. 3 Flatten the dough into balls and boil them in diluted sugar water for 15 minutes; the balls should almost double in size. If they don't expand, the chella mixture hasn't been kneaded enough.
4. 4 Simmer the remaining 200 ml of milk with sugar, saffron, and cardamom for 20 minutes until it thickens to two-thirds of its original volume.
5. 5 Gently squeeze the dough into balls and soak them in saffron milk for 4 hours in the refrigerator, then sprinkle with pistachios and almonds.

With an appliance

• Oven 1 hr 20 min

  Replace step 4: Heat the milk, sugar, saffron, and cardamom in an uncovered saucepan on the middle rack of a 150°C oven for 22 minutes, stirring at the 11th minute until two-thirds of the mixture is reduced; even heat helps the milk thicken without sticking to the bottom.