Mar 29, 2010

Basundi with Paneer

Basundi - as per Wiki - "It is a sweetened dense milk made by boiling milk on low heat until the milk is reduced by half."

Yes True. But they left out many more adjectives like "Its a delicious rich Indian dessert. Creamy, Nutty..and full of goodness". "Heavenly, heart warming, food for your soul..."And much more. 

The inspiration behind this post is Madhuram's Easy Basundi. She's got an excellent site with great recipes and this is one of those wonderful things she cooked up for us! Thank You Madhuram for the paneer basundi idea! I changed the recipe a little bit. Used the evaporated milk but left out the condensed milk and used just sugar. It did turn out great. I will be making it again - but will make sure there are no left overs - so I don't sit around and eat it forever - all this richness is good only for the soul, not the body!!

Grate Paneer in a food processor or by hand. Make sure that there are no really long pieces of the paneer. It will also probably help if a little of the paneer is almost powdered finely.


In a wide pan, add 1 cup of regular milk. You could use a non stick if you have one. Helps with the milk not sticking - I have mine but was cooking for a party and something else was basking inside that!

Basundi tastes best with milk that has a high level of milk fat. But, you know how that settles in well..hips and other places! So, I just went with 1% milk. (And made up for it with the evaporated milk! Set your pan in low - medium heat for the entire process.


To the one cup of milk in the pan, add 2 cans of evaporated milk. If you don't get evaporated milk, add another 2-3 cups of regular milk. You'll just cook it for a longer time - but that's what a basundi is all about!


When the milk gets a little hot, add the grated paneer in here. Mix well.

Now, add about 2 1/2 cups of sugar for the whole thing. You could add 2 first and if that is now sweet enough, add a couple of more tbsp's or another 1/2 cup. Upto you and how hungry your sweet tooth is feeling that day!


Cook this for about 45 mins on a low flame. You will see the milk cream forming on top - keep mixing it in and the milk will thicken up well and become very creamy! The paneer adds a ton of texture and flavor to the basundi. When you bite into it, it feels like you're biting into thick cream ..I can't really tell you how that feels - you just have to experience it. So, make it soon.


When the basundi is almost done, add some fresh bits of saffron or a saffron paste like I have. If you're adding fresh bits, make sure your soak them first in a tsp of this warm milk so the color comes out evenly and then mix it with the rest of the basundi.


While that is so happening...roast some chopped nuts in a pan. I caramelize them...I like that word..caramelize..very heartwarming..or exotic.

I added 1 tsp of sugar to the nuts and while they are heating up, the sugar melts and "caramelizes" the nuts. I'm sure my nuts love them too just like me!




My basundi here is almost done. Ready to be moved out of the pan.


Move to a serving dish and cool it well. Once its cooled down a bit and after you've garnished, move this to the refrigerator and chill for a few hours. You can also freeze this and serve like ice cream. No one says basundi icecream is not a good idea. Its actually a great idea..now I have to make another batch to freeze. Well..next time I have skinny guests I'll do that!


Garnish with the gorgeous nuts. 


All this delicious Basundi. Eat and sign up to run for a marathon.



Enjoy. Peace Out!

28 comments:

  1. Hey I make paneer payasam almost this way except the saffron and this much nuts. And I add finely chopped paneer to the reduced milk.
    Adding the grated paneer it looks exactly like basundhi.. nice idea. Will surely adapt this.

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  2. Wow...what a novel idea! I'm so tempted to make this right now! :)

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  3. Hmmmm just finished my lunch of salad and chappati... can you send some over by phone?

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  4. Wow, that was a very tempting basundi. Lovely write-up to go with it. Enjoyed a twin treat :):)Clicks are toooooooo good.

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  5. Very very yummy recipe..I too make this..by adding a little moong daal along with paneer

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  6. Very innovative and the clicks are too good. You have really tempted me to make some now. Appreciate the patience for the illustrative clicks. Thanks for sharing a wonderful recipe.

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  7. Wooow,,,basundi loooks delicious,,sounds great basundi with paneer...very rich dessert for any time...thanks for sharing this rich dessert dear,,take care n keep on smiling

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  8. Wooow,,,basundi loooks delicious,,sounds great basundi with paneer...very rich dessert for any time...thanks for sharing this rich dessert dear,,take care n keep on smiling

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  9. Slurppp, wat a beautiful and tempting basundi...feel like having some..

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  10. easily one of my fave desserts

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  11. Paneer basundi is fantastic. I make it the same way but will name it as paneer paal payasam

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  12. The Basundi looks so tempting , my sweet tooth has startd clamoring . Great pics n well explained recipe too !!

    Smita
    @ Litttle Food Junction

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  13. Basudi is one of my most fav sweets :-) Loved the idea of adding paneer..I do like this when I make rasmalai...

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  14. I should rather shop comin here...oh Gosh...your post are making me so hurgry...basundi looks awesome...remanding me your ras malai (I prefer that any day over basundi ;) )

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  15. Hi Anu, Please grab the award I have shared with u here. My hearty wishes to you to receive more, Congrats !!
    Basundi looks mouth watering !! I love them.

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  16. Hi,
    Basundi looks really mouth watering... U have great patience and shows ur dedication for preparing it... I have a request to u, Please show us how to prepare Pizza base and Pav... I am eagerly waiting for both for a long time :-)

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  17. I love love love Basundi and your version looks so delicious... its so creamy to look at almost pudding-y... caramalized nuts are a genius idea! Thank you for the recipe

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  18. oohh..love this basundi-paneer recipe... I am tempted to make this immediately and it is 11 o clock in the night :)

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  19. Thanks Anu for trying the recipe and to tell the truth your basundhi looks so authentic than mine.

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  20. Perfect, creamy dessert! Yumm!

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  21. Looks so yummy and I am a lover of sweets. Would like to gulp them all down.

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  22. Yum....sounds and looks awesome

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  23. Goodness..its truly an amazing creation...I could finish buckets of this one..burp!!!

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  24. Hi,
    I'm a first timer here. Blog is vivid and colorful.. loved it. And ofcourse the pictures are very good and mouth watering. I would love to prepare this one. But Im not sure about its consistency.Is it liquid like payasam or thick like custard? And since I am new to this , would you please let me know, upto to what extent the milk should be boiled? is it like.. boil till the total amount of milk is reduced to half?
    I would be glad if you can clear my doubts and will surely let you know, once i try this :) .

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  25. Hi Nimi,

    Thanks for stopping by - hope to see here often!

    For the basundi, the consistency should be payasam like - not too thick that you don't see the milk at all. When you pick up a spoon of the basundi, it should be milky but crowded with paneer pieces. Because I used evaporated milk (which already has been boiled and most of the water has evaporated). I did not boil it for a long time. If you are using regular milk, yes boil until it becomes half the quantity or thick enough that its payasam consistency.

    Do try out and let me know how you like it. Thanks!!

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  26. Hi, sorry that I didn't give a feed back right after attempting this one. I tried it 2 days after writing to you.. but it was a disaster :(, the milk curdled as soon as i added paneer to it... and rest is history but I did taste it in a sweet shop and absolutely loved it. And would like to try it again but not yet :), and hope it will come right. Thank you... I do often visit your site just to read on.. it is a pleasure!

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  27. @ Nimi - sorry it did not work for you. Did you heat up the milk well - also, don't keep the pan in high heat while making this -cook in medium heat. I'm not sure why it got curdled. But, don't give up yet - try another small batch one more time. Try mixing the sugar with the milk before you add the paneer in. Or try to use evaporated milk if you can find it. You can mix one can of evaporated milk and one can of condensed milk and skip the sugar part.

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