A planet-friendly, dairy-free take on the Bengali delight – the rasmalai!
Recipe by Kunal Mutha, Founder, Only Earth
Ingredients:
3 Cups Almond Milk
3-4 Strands of Saffron
8-9 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/6 Tsp Ground Cardamom
64.5 Gms Raw Cashewnuts
1 Tbsp Corn Starch
1 Pod of Cardamom Seeds
56 Gms Almond Flour
3 Tbsp Vegan Cream Cheese
9.86 gms Vegan Butter or Oil
1 Tbsp Almond Slivers
1 Tbsp.Chopped Raw Pistachios
Steps:
For the rabri, pour 3 cups of almond milk into a bottom-heavy pot and bring it to a boil. Add 3-4 strands of saffron and 5-6 tbsp. of sugar and keep stirring every few minutes to prevent burning. Let it sit and cool while the remaining preparations go on.
Add the 64.5 g of cashews, 1/6 tbsp. of ground cardamom, 1 tbsp. of corn starch, and a few strands of saffron in a blender, and blend for 15 seconds. Use a spoon to check for cashew lumps on the sides, blend it till it’s a fine powder.
Transfer this powdered flour into a bowl, add the almond flour, a big pinch of salt, cream cheese, butter/oil, and remaining sugar. Press and mix with a spatula or use your hands to make a dough out of the same.
Grease a shallow baking dish and press the dough onto the dish as a square or rectangle that should be less than half an inch thick.
Bake at 135° C for half an hour or until the mixture is completely dry on top and has lightened in colour.
Take the baking dish out and let it cool for 15 minutes. Slice the cake into squares that are an inch long on each side and separate it out. Do not separate it if the centre feels too soft and breaks into pieces.
Pour the entire rabri over this. Garnish with pistachios and almond slivers and let the mixture chill for a few hours before serving.
