Instant Rabdi: a rich & creamy Indian dessert made using milk, sugar, cardamom, and rose water. Drizzle on fruits or traditional sweets. Rabdi is a simple Indian dessert made by simmering milk on low heat until it evaporates down until thick and creamy. It’s sweetened with sugar and flavored with nuts and cardamom.
TRADITIONAL VS. INSTANT RABDI
Rabdi / rabri is a rich Indian dessert made using milk, and sugar. The traditional process involves reducing full fat milk on a low heat until the milks natural fats and creams are collected and it thickens considerably. The process is truly a labor of love and to feed a crowd you’d most definitely need a few hours.
While I love traditional Indian desserts sometimes we don’t always have the time to make long drawn out desserts. This Instant Rabdi recipe helps you make this exquisite dessert in a fraction of the time. It’s creamy, delicious, and you can easily make this for a larger gathering if needed.
HOW TO SERVE RABDI
Rabdi pairs beautifully with so many desserts. Drizzle over jalebis, gulab jamun, kulfi, shahi tukda, malpua, ghevar + more. I love it with fresh berries and nuts. You can even serve it alongside hot puris to scoop up.
RABDI INGREDIENT NOTES
Since this instant Rabdi uses minimal ingredients, I’m sharing some notes on how to get the most flavorful dessert with what we’re using.
- Ricotta Cheese: Ricotta is a soft cheese made by curdling milk and cream, similar to making fresh paneer. It’s creamy, soft texture works great in rabdi. Use a full fat / whole milk ricotta.
- Evaporated milk: This is what helps save the time, as evaporated milk is already reduced milk by about 60%. I always have a few cans of evaporated milk in my pantry.
- Cardamom: a hint of cardamom powder is a must in Rabdi, it’s floral, earthy notes pair beautifully with the rich milky dessert. For best results, use freshly ground cardamom.
- Saffron: Delicate saffron notes add to the richness of this creamy dessert.
- Rose water: A few drops of rosewater give this Rabdi that taste as if you’ve just brought it home from a local halwai.
- Nuts: If you are your guests can consume nuts, I highly recommend adding slivered almonds and pistachios generously for a richer texture and taste.
- Fresh Berries: While Rabdi is traditionally served alongside other rich and sugary desserts, I absolutely love pairing it with bright and juicy berries such as strawberries slices, raspberries, and pomegranate arils.
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 6 strands of saffron
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ½ teaspoon rose water
- 3 tablespoons slivered nuts of choice
- ¼ cup strawberries, cut
- ¼ cup raspberries
- 3 tablespoons pomegranate arils
- Warm a heavy bottom pan on medium heat and melt the ghee.
- Add ricotta cheese and sauté for 2 minutes, followed by adding the evaporated milk
- Stir everything until smooth.
- Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stirring midway to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom.
- Uncover and cook for 4-5 minutes until it reaches a boil.
- Add in the saffron, mix well.
- Lower the heat and keep stirring occasionally, making sure you scrape the sides as well.
- Add the sugar stir well and stir consistently until it thickens to the desired consistency.
- Once the consistency becomes like a milkshake turn off heat, it will thicken as it cools.
- Stir in cardamom powder and rose water and allow Rabdi to come to room temperature.
- With a hand blender, blend the Rabdi 2-3 times, so it’s a mix of creamy and grainy as traditional Rabdi is.
- Fold in the nuts and remove into a serving bowl. Cover and chill the Rabdi in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours.
- When ready to serve, top with sliced strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate arils and rose petals.
- Serve chilled.
Enjoy,
