It seems like only yesterday that i was wandering through the streets of Calcutta on my office chores as an intern at the company's office situated in the heart of Calcutta itself and to my luck in the cosy corners of Park street.

Like any other usual day of work the life and the glitter of Calcutta could not sway the life back in me, being a hard core Maharashtrian at heart it was quite difficult to get used to the place. But as they say India is land full of diversity that will in the end unite you leave its charm on you.

Yes charm indeed and dare i say what a charm my first sight of those tender, soft,succulent,and sweet bundles of warmth and culture of Calcutta. If life could only be as simple as following a recipe, we’d all be much happier. However, unlike food-based recipes, life doesn’t provide you with standardized ingredients as each lives their unique life.Now, speaking about my bong connection, I think it’s difficult to pinpoint one especially when you are dealing with a foodie. Similar to life, I likevariety however if I were forced to think of my absolute favourite dish from calcutta that till date is up there with the best of best dishes  it would have to be my most beloved sweet the, Ras malai or as I like to call it “Raas Malai”.

This extravaganza called the Ras malai is a royal sweet from Bengal which is often served at weddings and eaten on special occasions. However as a proud Indian i would like to do the honor of providing a very easy recipe to follow to bring back my take on the sweetest creation for me and my sweetest memory of Calcutta right back home. 

This sweet love called Ras malai calls for a few basic household ingredients to bring about the birth of something indeed divine like:

✓ Milk

✓ Lemon juice/ Vinegar

✓ Saffron

✓ Cardamom

✓ Sugar

✓ Water

✓ Pistachios

The process is quite simple but a bit tedious task of about four hours.It is a three-step process- Firstly, in a thick bottomed pan add 1 litre of only cow’s milk. Stir occasionally on a low flame. Add lemon juice and stir till the milk curdles completely and immediately drain the curdled milk into the hand kerchief/ cheese cloth. Hang for 30 minutes, then, knead the paneer for 10 minutes and make small balls out of it and flatten them.

 Now to prepare the sugar syrup, first, in a deep vessel take 11⁄2 cup of sugar. Add 8 glasses of water and stir well. After that, drop the prepared flattened paneer balls into boiling sugar syrup.Cover and boil it for 15 minutes. Then with a help of a slotted spoon take each Ras malai andsqueeze off the sugar syrup and allow it to cool down.

Finally, we move on to the rabri, in a large non-stick pan heat milk. Stir occasionally and bring to a simmer. Reduce the flame to medium and once a layer of cream is formed over the milk, stick it to the sides of the vessel. Repeat this process at least 5 times or till milk reduces to one-third. Further, add sugar, cardamom powder, and saffron milk to give it a beautiful aroma and taste.

Then, transfer to a bowl and let it attain room temperature. Further, refrigerate for 2-3 hours before adding the rabri to the Ras malai. Then, generously pour the chilled rabri over the squeezed paneer balls. Also, garnish with a few chopped pistachios. Finally, your Ras malai is ready to be served. Every time i taste Ras malai it brings out the jovial storyteller hidden in me.