What is rabdi?

Rabdi is a mouthwatering sweet dish. The Indian sweet platter has innumerable varieties to offer but nothing beats a well cooked rabdi. After any authentic north Indian or Rajasthani dinner, rabdi is the best option for dessert. You will cherish every spoonful of the cold rabdi that you consume.

Primarily rabdi requires only two ingredients to prepare it, namely, milk and sugar. The milk and sugar are put to boil in a deep pan. This requires constant stirring till the milk becomes thick or rather condensed and reduces to almost a fourth of its initial quantity. Add a little vetiver essence, cardamom seeds and pistachios and your rabdi is ready to eat!

However there is a simpler and quicker way of making rabdi than the above mentioned traditional style. This tested and tried method involves the use of dry milk, sugar powder and corn starch. The mixture is first sieved so as to avoid any lumps from occurring. Add butter and whipping cream to it and boil over low heat. The emphasis on low heat is because one tries to cook rabdi on a high flame there will be excessive boil over and the dish will be tasteless. You will notice clotted cream being formed on the top, keep mixing it inwards and in about 15-20 minutes a luscious rabdi will be ready. Rabdi should be garnished with almonds and pistachios and a pinch of saffron to make it look even better! The rabdi should be refrigerated a while before being served. The colder your rabdi the better it tastes.

Rabdi is also eaten with rose flavored vermicelli. Rabdi makes an amazing dessert in the summers. Once you have rabdi as a dessert item you can even avoid icecreams also!

Serve Rabdi in a bowl on an ethnic style decorative tray, such as one from Cultural Elements