Add 1 litre of milk to a large pot and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
1 litre whole milk
Turn off the heat and add in the lemon juice slowly while mixing, until the milk separates into curds. Once all the milk has curdled, immediately add in the cold water to stop it from cooking more. Which will make the curds tougher.
3-4 tablespoon lemon juice, 4 cups ice water
Place a cheesecloth over a a strainer and strain out the whey from the curds. Run it under cold water to wash out the vinegar taste and smell.
Squeeze out as much whey/liquid as possible, tie and hang up the cheesecloth for about an hour to let dry out some more.
In a wide bottomed pot, add in the sugar, water, cardamom and saffron. Let it come to a boil and cook for a couple more minutes to thicken it up some more.
1 cup granulated white sugar, 4 cups water, 2 cardamom pods
Take the curd and knead it with your palm on a counter-top for around 5 minutes until fairly smooth. You don't want to over knead it because the balls will become hard and may break.
Portion into around 15 balls of 10g and carefully roll into smooth balls. If there are any cracks, you can smooth them out with some of the whey water. I like to press them a bit to flatten them out but you can have them be like balls.
Heat up the sugar water mixture until its starting to boil and gently place in all the balls. Cover and cook for about 9 minutes and take off the heat. DO NOT take off the lid and just let them rest for about 20 minutes before disturbing them. They'll deflate otherwise.
During this time, make the milk mixture for the rasmalai:
Add the milk, cream, sugar, cardamom and saffron to a wide-bottomed pan and bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat to medium and cook until reduced by around 20% and slightly thickened.
3 cups whole milk, ¼ cup heavy cream, 4-5 cardamom pods, 2 tablespoon white granulated sugar, add more or less if you prefer, pinch of saffron
Take out the balls from the sugar syrup and gently squeeze out most of the syrup and place into the milk mixture.
Let the balls absorb the milk and transfer to your serving dish. Let it cool down to room temperature, and then place in the fridge to chill.
Garnish with chopped pistachios and dried rose petals and enjoy!
