How to prepare Basundi

Basundi is thick sweetened milk that is flavored with cardamom or saffron and garnished with nuts like pistachios or chironji. Rabri is similar to basundi but differs in texture due to the difference in the method of preparation. Basundi recipe is almost the same as rabdi aka rabri, the recipe of which I had posted earlier.

It has more liquid content compared to rabdi and less milk solids. Basundi is eaten on it own, either warm or chillied and is also be served with puri or jalebi. While making rabri recipe, whole milk is reduced to less than half of its original quantity. It is thick with milk solids and has minimal liquid content compared to basundi.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Full fat milk - 2 lts

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Pistachios - fistful

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Saffron - 7-8 strands

Chironji - 1/2 tbsp

Almonds - 7-8, blanched and peeled

Preparation:

• Sliver the blanched almonds, chop the pistachios and set aside.
• Boil milk in a large heavy bottomed wide vessel on high flame. Once it comes to a boil, reduce flame to low and allow to simmer for 12-15 mts, stirring in intervals of 3 mts.
• Add sugar at this point and keep stirring constantly. You will see that the milk thickens. This could take 45 to 50 mts.
• Add cardamom powder and mix well. Turn off flame and allow to cool down slightly. Remove to a serving bowl.
• Garnish with the chopped nuts and saffron strands.
• Ladle into serving bowls and serve warm. You can even chill the rabdi and serve it chilled.

For Tips:

• Use a heavy bottomed vessel while making basundi.
• Full fat milk is best for a rich, creamy flavor. You can use 2% milk but it will be less creamy.
• You refrigerate for 4-7 days or freeze it for a few weeks.
• If you are serving chilled basundi, reduce the boiling time of milk by 10-12 mts as basundi will thicken on cooling.

How to make Bengali Rasgulla

Ingredients:

• 1 liter whole milk
• ½ cup curd / whisked yogurt (you can use lemon juice or vinegar too, but with yogurt they smell and taste perfect)
• 1 liter ice cold water or 1 cup of ice cubes
• 1½ cups sugar (you could increase by another half to quarter cup, if you have a sweet tooth)
• 2¼ cups water
• ¼ tsp. cardamom powder
• Few saffron stands (optional) for garnishing
• ½ tsp. rose water (optional)

Procedure:

Rinse a heavy bottom utensil to boil milk. By rinsing, you can prevent the milk from being burnt beneath.

Bring the milk to a boil, if you are using cold milk from refrigerator, heat up on a low flame else it can give a weird smell.

When the milk is rapidly boiling about to spill over, pour the curd and stir in. The entire milk gets curdled well within 2 to 3 mins. Off the heat and let it rest for 2 mins. If the milk doesn’t curdle well, add some more yogurt while the milk is still boiling.

Pour ice cold water or add ice cubes to stop the cheese from further cooking. This way it stays soft. Use a cheese or muslin cloth and drain it.

Rinse the chenna under running water, this is actually not needed if you use yogurt for curdling. It is rinsed to remove the smell of lemon or vinegar.

Knot the cloth and hang it for 45 mins to drain excess water in the chenna. Squeeze off the excess water to reduce the hanging time. Make sure there is no water in left in the chenna before you proceed to make the balls.

Knead the chenna or paneer for 3 to 4 mins to get a smooth dough and make small balls out of these. Do not make them too big, they will puff up and double in size when you boil them in sugar syrup. Mix sugar and water in a pan and bring it to a boil.

Add cardamom powder, rose water to the sugar syrup. When the syrup is boiling, add the balls one after the other carefully.

Cover and cook for around 10 mins on a medium high flame. Every 3 mins , open the lid and just stir the syrup gently. If the flame is too high, rasgulla may break or they double in size first and then shrink back. We do not want them to shrink or either break, so adjust the flame to medium high.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.