on Mar 27, 2021, Updated Oct 17, 2024 One sweet that always makes it to our table come festive season is this instant rabdi! I have grown up eating homemade rabdi by the bucket and it has gone on to become one of my favorite Indian desserts! It’s rich and creamy with layers and layers of malai – a true labour of love. But here’s the deal – Homemade rabri usually requires a lot of attention and hours of cooking time. But not this recipe! This is definitely a shortcut to making rabdi BUT I promise it tastes so similar, most people will never be able to tell the difference! Good deal, right?
The Secret To Instant Rabdi
The secret to making Instant Rabdi is two ingredients – paneer and condensed milk. They act as thickeners and add creaminess. The crumbled paneer sort of melts while cooking and forms the layers that we all love so much in rabdi.
Flavouring the Rabdi
The milk has ingredients like ghee, cardamom, and saffron to flavour it and make it tasty. We do cook the milk with these ingredients for about 15 minutes to thicken it slightly and get the first few layers of malai going but you don’t need the traditional 2-3 hours of simmering and babysitting here. The final touch which makes rabdi so tempting is the rose water. And with rose water, a little goes a long way!!
How to make Instant Rabdi
The milk should be boiled with the cardamom, ghee, and saffron for about 15 minutes till it reduces a little and you see layers of malai forming on top. Be gentle with these layers – just keep collecting them and pushing them back into the simmering milk till it thickens. Add the condensed milk and grated paneer, and cook the mixture for another 8-12 minutes. The paneer should dissolve slightly and get incorporated into the mixture. You can add additional sugar if you like but I’ve seen that with condensed milk, there’s no need. I like my rabdi only mildly sweet because it’s usually served with other sweet dishes like gulab jamun or jalebi. But feel free, to adjust the sweetness to your taste. Finally, serve chilled rabdi topped with sliced pistas and almonds!
Richa’s Top Tips
The rabdi thickens as it cools down, so make sure to not reduce the milk too much or the texture won’t be right. You can make this instant rabdi ahead, and store it in the fridge. When you’re ready to it, simply reheat it by adding a little milk. Since the rabdi will be quite thick, milk will help adjust the consistency. Use a heavy-bottomed pan when making this, and don’t forget to stir the milk the often. This will prevent the milk from burning and/or sticking at the bottom.
Serving Ideas
Rabdi is an excellent versatile Indian sweet, which not only tastes delicious on it’s own but can also be used as a topping with other sweets. I love drizzling this instant rabdi over kulfi, gulab jamuns, malpulas and jalebis. You can serve it with a glass of chilled thandai. See! You don’t have to toil away for hours in the kitchen fussing over getting rabdi right! Serve homemade rabdi with jalebi, malpua, or gulab jamuns! You could also surprise your family with glasses of chilled Thandai!
More Homemade Indian Sweets
Kesar Pedas Easy Rice Kheer Mum’s Gulab Phirni Chocolate Rice Kheer Thin and Crispy Jalebis
