Milk is extensively used to prepare Indian Desserts and is a basic ingredient which is easily available everywhere.
Here is a list of few deserts which are made using milk as a core ingredient……
Kulfi– A popular Indian frozen dessert, which resembles ice cream but is denser and creamier than the ice creams. It comes in various flavors like rose, cardamom, saffron, malai etc.
It is traditionally prepared by evaporating sweetened and flavored milk via slow cooking, with almost continuous stirring to keep milk from sticking to the bottom of the vessel until its volume is reduced by a half, thus thickening it.
The semi-condensed mix is then frozen in tight sealed moulds that are then submerged in ice mixed with salt to speed up the freezing process.
Basundi– It is an Indian dessert most common in Gujarat, Maharastra and Karnataka. It is a sweetened condensed milk made by boiling milk on low heat until the milk is reduced by half.
Ras Malai– Also known as Rosso Malai, it is a Bengali sweet dish invented by Bengali confectioner K.C. Das. Small round balls of Cheena or cottage cheese are dipped into a thick creamy and sweetened milk preparation, which is flavoured with cardamom and saffron. The balls absorb the milk and become double the size after some time. Nuts like pistachios and almonds are used for garnishing.
Kheer or phirni– A rice pudding made by boiling rice, broken wheat, tapioca or vermicelli with milk and sugar; it is flavoured with cardamom and saffron, and added with lots of dry fruits like raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios and almonds. Saffron is optional and is added for making saffron kheer, which provides yellow color and also a nice aroma and flavour to the desert. Plain kheer does not has saffron and therefore is white in color. In the South, Kheer is called Payasam and in the east it is known as Payesh and is generally served cold, but it can also be consumed warm.
Misti Doi– A dessert famous in West Bengal and Odisha, it is basically a fermented curd which is sweetened. Mitha dahi is prepared by boiling milk until it is slightly thickened, sweetening it with sugar or gur and allowing the milk to ferment overnight. Earthenware is always used as the container for making mitha dahi because the gradual evaporation of water through its porous walls not only further thickens the yoghurt, but also produces the right temperature for the growth of the culture.
Shrikhand– A Maharastrian Sweet dish, it is made by using strained or geek yoghurt, and is mixed with sugar, saffron, cardamom and nuts. It is served chilled with hot poori’s. A popular version of this dessert is Amrakhand which is a mango flavored shrikhand.
Rabri– It is a sweet, condensed-milk-based dish made by boiling the milk on low heat for a long time until it becomes dense and changes its color to pinkish. Sugar, spices and nuts are added to it to give it flavor. It is served chilled. Rabri is the main ingredient in several desserts, such as malpua rabri, Shahi tukra etc.
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Content Reference: Wikipedia
