Foodtalk: Lentil surprise from Rajasthan

THE popular sweet rasmalai is arguably the most refined blend of a rasgulla and a thin basundi-like rabri. Now, as everyone knows, rasgulla is made from chhena, which is the foundation of many mouth-watering Bengali sweets. Imagine our surprise when at a recent food festival, a home chef from Rajasthan made us taste her noble creation, moong dal ki rasmalai. We have, in the past, enjoyed the savoury rasgulle ki sabzi that is prepared in many strictly vegetarian Marwari Jain and Bania families in Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. This offering, however, was special.

It is a pity that nowadays, a shortcut is taken — syrup is squeezed out of the rasgullas bought from the halwai, and then these are placed in a bowl of water, before delicately squeezing out the residual sweetness. These balls are then simmered in a gravy cooked separately to soak new flavours. For us, this method reduces a traditional classic to a poor joke.

We have always believed that man does not live by chhena sweets alone. There are other myriad delights, for instance laddoo, burfi, khaja, balushahi, jalebi and imarti. Not to forget the delightful halwas made with grains! These may not be kosher for the days of ritual fasting, but are no less seductive than sandesh or chamcham.

To cut a long story short, we were very pleasantly surprised by the moong dal ki rasmalai. This recipe reminded us of the Awadhi rasbada that we had chanced upon a couple of years back in Lucknow.

The rasgullas we are talking about were made from lentil batter and the slightly condensed milk they floated upon added to their sponginess. Best of all, the recipe is simple to follow and can be embellished with slivered nuts, saffron, rose and kewra water as much as you wish.

Enjoy the feast, for that is what it is!

Moong dal ki rasmalai

Ingredients

Moong dal   1 cup

Sugar            1 cup

Ghee/oil       1 cup

Milk               1 cup

Green cardamom seeds    1/2 tsp

Rose water/kewra jal        1 tsp

Slivered nuts (optional)    1 tbsp

Method

Soak the lentils in 3 cups of water for at least 4 hours. Drain, wash once and grind to a thick smooth batter, adding not more than 1 tsp of

water. Shift to a bowl and whisk to make it fluffy. Keep aside to use later.

Heat a cup of water in a pan and when it comes to boil, reduce the heat to low. Add sugar and stir well to dissolve it. Sprinkle green cardamom seeds. Don’t let the syrup acquire one-string consistency as the syrup or chashani for this recipe has to be very thin. Take off the flame and keep separately, ensuring that the syrup remains warm.

Heat oil in a pan on medium flame, then reduce to low.

Whisk the moong dal batter again. Moisten your palms with a little ghee or oil, then taking a small portion of the batter, roll it between the palms into small, smooth, tight balls. Remember that these will increase in size after frying.

Gently lower the balls or 'rasgullas' into the oil and fry without stirring on very low heat. As they turn rich golden, gently move the spatula on the periphery to turn them around. When done, evenly remove with

a wire mesh ladle and gently place in the sugar syrup. Let them soak the syrup for some time — ideally 2 hours. If the syrup has gone cold, warm it a little before this step.

Heat milk in a pan, bring to boil, keep stirring constantly till it is reduced to half its volume. Remove from the flame. Pour the condensed milk in a large bowl, transfer the 'moong dal rasgullas', along with the syrup, to this bowl. Keep in a fridge or cold place for a couple of hours. Garnish with slivered pistachios. Sprinkle rose water and 'kewra jal', if you like, before serving.