Rasmalai is said to be of Bengali origin and is called ‘rossomalai’ in Bengali. The term is a combination of the Hindi word ‘ras’ (which means juice) and ‘malai’ (which means cream). Bread rasmalai is a modern take on traditional rasmalai, which is made with chhena or flattened balls of cottage cheese. To make chhena, boiled milk is split with lime juice or vinegar. After discarding the whey, the milk solids are drained and kneaded into a dough. Small balls of this dough are made and cooked in hot water with a dash of rose water, an ingredient that the Mughals adored. The Portuguese can be credited for introducing the art of making cheese to Bengal. Goa was, however, the first state to have been introduced to cheese-making.
