Banarasi Malaiyo

Name: Banarasi Malaiyo
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 8 h
Total time: 8 h 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Banarasi
Ingredients: 2 litre Full fat milk; 100 g Sugar; 0.5 g saffron strands; 1 tsp rose water; 2 tbsp pistachios; 1 sheet silver varq; 0.25 tsp green cardamom powder

An ethereally light, saffron-scented foam made by whisking sweetened milk overnight under the winter dew, a Banarasi delicacy sold only in the coldest months.

🇮🇳India· Uttar Pradesh

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 480 min
Total: 510 min
Servings: 6
Difficulty: Hard
Calories: 150 kcal

Ingredients

0 of 7 gathered

Servings

Equipment

•Wide brass kadai
•Whisk (mathani)
•Muslin cloth

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 150 kcal
fat: 6 g
carbs: 18 g
fibre: 0 g
protein: 5 g
calories: 150 kcal

Instructions

1
Boil the milk in a wide, heavy kadai (deep pan). Simmer until reduced to half, stirring often so it does not burn.
2
Cool the milk to room temperature. Stir in the sugar, saffron milk and cardamom powder.
3
Pour the milk into a wide, shallow brass or steel dish. Cover loosely with a muslin cloth.
4
Leave the dish outdoors in a cold, dewy spot overnight. Keep it there for 6-8 hours, ideally on a winter night.
5
In the morning, whisk or skim the surface gently with a wide flat whisk. Gather the light foam that forms on top.
6
Spoon the airy foam into a separate bowl. Handle it gently so it does not collapse.
7
Gently whisk the remaining milk again to gather more foam. Continue until you collect most of the top layer.
8
Spoon the malaiyo (sweet foam) into small kulhads (terracotta cups) or bowls. Top with chopped pistachios, rose water and silver varq (edible foil).
9
Serve immediately. The foam collapses quickly as it warms up.

Chef's tips

Make this only on genuinely cold winter nights, as the chill and morning dew create the foam. A fridge cannot create the right texture. Serve the malaiyo the same morning.