Chits Kitchen

Malai Chop or Cream Chop is a traditional and authentic Bengali Sweet dish prepared from fresh chenna (cottage cheese). This sweet recipe is soft and juicy from inside. The Mawa stuffing and Cream layering adds extra flavour to the Mithai. Chenna is used in preparing a number of sweets. Sweets such as Rasgulla, Rajbhog, Rasmalai, Cham Cham, etc. are made from chenna. All these Sweet Recipes are prepared with different variations. It is served as a dessert after the meal or as a side dish with the meal.

In my earlier post I have already shared the recipe of Cham Cham where we shape the chenna into cylindrical balls and then cook them in sugar syrup. Then we slit the balls from the middle and fill the stuffing. Lastly we garnish with dry fruits. But here while preparing the Malai Chop sweet recipe, in addition to these steps, we will also use malai or fresh cream for layering the flat balls. This malai layering over the balls adds extra flavour and taste to this sweet.

To prepare the best Malai Chop Sweet, follow the below tips:

1. Quality of Milk: To prepare soft and spongy Malai Chop, use full cream milk. Cow’s milk is best for preparing Malai Chop. However you can also use Buffalo’s milk. After the milk boils, allow it to cool down for few minutes. Add the lemon juice or vinegar to curdle the milk only after the milk slightly cools down. It helps in preparing soft and spongy malai chop. The milk can be also cool down by adding cold water.
2. Moisture Content in Chenna: The moisture content in Chenna should be appropriate. It should neither be less nor more. The flat balls may break while cooking if the moisture content is high in chenna. If the moisture content is low, the balls after cooking may become hard, dense and rubbery.
3. Dough Kneading Time: Knead the chenna for at least 10 minutes to remove the grainy parts and make the chenna soft and smooth. While kneading you must be careful that when the chenna starts leaving oil, you must stop kneading it. It shows that it’s enough of kneading. Time taken to knead the chenna also depends upon the amount of pressure that you are applying on the chenna while kneading.
4. Preparing Malai Chop Balls: From the dough, take small amount and make flat round shape balls. Roll it with your palm to make the outer surface smooth. There must not be any cracks on the surface or else it may break while cooking.
5. Consistency of Sugar Syrup: To prepare the Sugar Syrup, take the sugar and water in the ratio 1:3. That means for every cup of sugar, take 3 cups of water. Heat the water and then add sugar to dissolve it completely. The sugar syrup should not form thick threads. Apart from this you can add extra sugar if you want to add extra sweetness to the sweet.
6. Cooking Time: Prepare the sugar syrup in a wide and large pan so that the balls get enough space to expand. The balls will double in its size so twice the size of the balls space should be left. The least time span for which the malai chop balls should be cooked in sugar syrup is 20 minutes.
7. Cooking Temperature: Cook the balls under medium to high flame. Cover the pan with lid while cooking. It helps in making the balls soft and spongy. Also while cooking froth bubbles must be formed so that it covers the balls and cook it from all side.
8. Resting Time for Cooked Malai Chop Balls: After the malai chop balls are cooked, switch off the stove and allow it to completely cool down. Keep the pan covered. Do not open the lid in between until the sugar syrup cools down completely.

There are two ways of preparing Malai Chop Sweet:

1. Stuffed Malai Chop: In this process, first we prepare the Mawa (Khoya) stuffing. Slice the chenna flat balls horizontally and then fill it with the stuffing of khoya between them. Apply Malai over the chop and then sprinkle desiccated coconut over the malai. Lastly garnish with pistachio and Tutti Frutti. Today I will prepare this Bengali sweet recipe using this process only. Use Homemade Khoya to prepare the stuffing. It is healthy and pure.
2. Non-Stuffed Malai Chop: In this process, Mawa stuffing is not used. Simply apply Malai Rabri over the chenna balls. Then sprinkle required amount of desiccated coconut over the malai and then garnish with dry fruits. If you want to prepare Malai Chop without stuffing then skip the steps for preparation of stuffing.

We will be preparing Malai Chop sweet recipe with the first process. First we need to prepare chenna. To prepare the chenna, boil the milk. After it boils, switch off the stove and allow it to cool for few minutes. On cooling add lemon juice to curdle the milk to separate the chenna from the whey. Strain the chenna and squeeze out the excess water from it. Take the chenna in a plate and add maida. Knead the chenna till it is soft and smooth. Prepare flat balls from it and keep it aside. Roll it to make the surface smooth so that it does not break while cooking.

Next prepare Sugar Syrup by boiling Water along with Sugar and Cardamom. When the Sugar completely dissolves and the syrup starts boiling then add the Malai Chop balls into it. Cover the pan with lid and cook for about 20 minutes. By this time the balls will double its size. Switch off the flame and allow the balls to cool down completely. After cooling, take out the balls from the sugar syrup and squeeze it slightly to remove the excess syrup. Slit each ball horizontally till 3/4^th of the size of the balls with the ends intact. You can also cook the balls in pressure cooker. It takes less time and is quick.

Now prepare the Mawa Stuffing by mixing Khoya, Powdered Sugar, Saffron Milk and Cardamom Powder. Mix all the ingredients to prepare the stuffing. Take a Malai Chop ball and fill the stuffing between the layers of the ball. Press it slightly to adjust the stuffing. In the same manner stuff all the balls. Now take the Fresh Cream and spread above each balls to make a thick layer. Sprinkle small amount of Desiccated Coconut over the malai. Garnish with Pistachio, Almonds and Tutti Frutti. Delicious and tasty Malai Chop Sweet Recipe is ready to serve. Serve it chilled.

Prepare this sweet recipe at your home and do give us your feedback in the comment section below and also rate this recipe. Don’t forget to share this recipe with your friends and relatives through facebook, twitter, instagram and pinterst

Try our other Mithai Recipes such as Sweet Boondi, Rasgulla, Rajbhog, Rasmalai and Cham Cham.

You may also like our other Sweet Recipes:

Halwa Recipes

Kheer Recipes

Cake Recipes

Let’s start preparing the delicious and mouthwatering Malai Chop Sweet Recipe,

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Malai Chop/Cream Chop/Malai Chop Sweet Recipe

Malai Chop is a traditional Bengali Sweet dish prepared from Chenna. Chenna is shaped into flat round balls and is then cooked in sugar syrup. It is stuffed with Mawa and then garnished with Malai and dry fruits.

Course Dessert, Side Dish, Sweets

Cuisine Bengali, Indian

Keyword Cream Chop, Malai Chop

Preparation Time 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Passive Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 10 pieces

Calories

Author Recipe by Chits

Equipments:

• Thick base Pan or Kadai
• Strainer
• Muslin Cloth
• Knife to slice the Malai Chop Balls

Ingredients:

For Malai Chop Balls:

• 1 litre Full Cream Milk (or 4 cups)
• 2-3 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1 teaspoon Maida
• 2 cups Cold Water

For Sugar Syrup:

• 2 cups Refined White Sugar
• 3-4 pieces Green Cardamom Pods (Hari Elaichi)
• 6 cups Water

For Stuffing:

• 1/2 cup Mawa (Khoya)
• 2 tablespoon Powdered Sugar
• 4-5 strands Saffron
• 2 teaspoon Milk
• 1/4 teaspoon Green Cardamom Powder

For Malai Layering & Garnishing:

• 5 tablespoon Fresh Cream
• 5 tablespoon Desiccated Coconut
• 2 tablespoon Sliced Pistachio & Almonds
• 2 tablespoon Tutti Frutti

Instructions:

Preparation of Chenna for Malai Chop:

• Take the Full Cream Milk in a large pot and heat under medium flame till it comes to boil.
• While boiling the Milk, keep stirring it at regular intervals so that no layer is formed at the surface of the milk. The milk should not stick to the bottom of the pot and should not burn or else it will change the colour of the chenna.
• Once the Milk comes to boil, switch off the stove and allow the Milk to cool down for 3-4 minutes before adding Lemon Juice.
• When the Milk cools down, add 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice to the milk. Mix and stir it with the help of spoon or spatula.
• After sometime, again add 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice. Stir it. You will see that the milk starts curdling. Keep on stirring till it completely curdles.
• If the milk does not curdle completely, add more lemon juice. Keep adding more lemon juice till it completely curdles to form chenna. The quantity of lemon juice required for curdling depends on the quality of milk.
• By now, the milk completely curdles and green whey is formed separating the chenna from itself.
• Now take a strainer and place it over a large bowl.
• Place a muslin cloth or clean handkerchief over the strainer.
• Strain the curdled milk to separate the Chenna from the green coloured whey.
• Next pour cold water over the chenna and rinse it to remove the acidic and sour taste of lemon juice from the chenna.
• Squeeze the muslin cloth to drain out the excess water from the chenna. Chenna should neither be too moist nor too dry.
• Take out the chenna from the muslin cloth and place it over a plate to prepare the dough.
• Mash it slightly with your palm. We will now knead the chenna along with other ingredients to prepare the Malai Chop balls.

Kneading and Preparing Malai Chop Balls:

• Take the Chenna in a large plate. Add Maida (All-Purpose Flour) to it.
• Mix and knead them till it is soft and smooth. No need to add water.
• While kneading the dough we must keep in mind that the dough is soft and there are no lumps in it. It should not leave oil. As soon as you feel that oil is coming out, stop kneading it.
• Now take small amount of dough and roll it to make flat round balls. Roll it to make smooth so that there are no cracks on the surface.
• In the same manner, make flat balls for the remaining dough. Keep it aside in a plate.

Preparation of Sugar Syrup:

• Heat 6 cups of Water in a large flat pan or kadai over medium heat. Let it boil.
• When the Water starts boiling, add Sugar to it. Stir the Sugar till it completely dissolves.
• If you see that there are some impurities present in the sugar syrup, add 1 tablespoon of Milk to it. On using White Refined Sugar, there is no need to add milk. If there are no impurities, skip the steps 3-5.
• As the Sugar Syrup boils, the impurities start floating at the surface of the syrup.
• With the help of spoon, take out the impurities from the sugar syrup.
• Lastly add Green Cardamom to the syrup and allow it to boil. Now we will add the Malai Chop balls into the boiling sugar syrup to cook them.

Cooking of Malai Chop Balls:

• Add all the Malai Chop balls into the sugar syrup. Allow it to boil.
• While adding the balls into the pan, you must be careful that there is enough space around the balls so that it gets space to expand. The space should be twice the size of balls.
• Cover the pan with lid and cook for 5 minutes under medium to high flame. Bubbles starts to form rapidly as the syrup boils.
• After 5 minutes, open the lid and turn the balls to the other side. Close the lid again and allow the balls to cook under medium to high flame.
• Cook the Malai Chop balls for 15 minutes more. On total cook the balls for at least 20 minutes.
• After boiling the balls for 20 minutes, you will see that the balls expand to double its original size.
• To check whether it is completely cooked or not, take the flat balls and dip it into water. If it sinks, it means it is cooked.
• The other way to find whether it is cooked or not is by pressing it. When we slightly press it and release it, the ball will regain its size. It means it is cooked.
• Switch off the stove and allow the balls to cool down completely. Do not open the lid.
• When the sugar syrup completely cools down, take out the balls from the syrup. Slightly squeeze out the sugar syrup from the balls and place them in a different plate.

Preparation of Malai Chop Stuffing:

• Take the Saffron Strands and dissolve it in 2 teaspoon of Milk for few minutes.
• Add Khoya, Powdered Sugar, Cardamom Powder and dissolved Saffron in a bowl.
• Mix all the ingredients uniformly with a spoon till it becomes soft.
• Do not over mix or the mixture will become little soggy. Keep it aside.

Preparation of Malai Chop Sweet:

• Take the Malai Chop balls and slit horizontally in between till 3/4th of the size of the balls with other side connected. Slit all the balls in the same manner and keep it aside.
• Take a ball and stuff small amount of khoya stuffing between the two layers. Spread the stuffing uniformly.
• Press the ball slightly with your palm to set the stuffing between the two layers. In the same manner stuff all the balls.
• Now take the Fresh Cream and spread it over each ball uniformly with the help of spoon so that it coats the entire upper layer.
• Next sprinkle small amount of Desiccated Coconut over the cream on each Malai Chop balls.
• Garnish the Malai Chop Sweet with Pistachio, Almonds and Tutti Frutti. Press the dry fruits gently with your finger so that it sticks to the cream of the Malai Chop.
  
• To prepare Malai Chop without using Mawa stuffing, skip the above steps from 1 to 3. Also skip the steps of preparing Mawa stuffing as mentioned above.
  
• Malai Chop sweet is ready to serve. Serve it as a dessert or as a side dish with any meal. Serve it chilled.
  

Notes:

1. Cow Milk is best for preparing chenna. However you can use Buffalo milk also.
2. You can use Vinegar in place of Lemon Juice, if you do not have Lemon at home.
3. While boiling milk, keep stirring the milk continuously so that thick layer or malai is not formed over the milk. Also the milk should not stick to the bottom of the pan or else it will burn and will change the colour of chenna.
4. To prepare soft and spongy Malai Chop, first cool the milk slightly for 3-4 minutes and then add Lemon Juice to curdle the milk. To cool the milk instantly, you can add a cup of cold water to the boiled milk.
5. The quantity of Lemon Juice required for curdling depends upon the quality of milk. Lemon Juice should be added to the boiled milk in batches. If the greenish whey is not formed, add more lemon juice to the milk to curdle completely.
6. While squeezing the chenna, we must keep in mind that the chenna should be squeezed such that it is neither too dry nor too wet. It should be little moist to prepare soft and spongy Malai Chop. If it is too dry, the balls will be hard. If it has too much moisture, it may break while preparing.
7. The milk whey left behind after the milk is curdled is very nutritious. It can be used to prepare atta dough or used in dal and curries.
8. You can use either of Maida or Corn Flour for preparing the dough.
9. You can also add Semolina (Sooji) while kneading the dough. It’s optional.
10. Mash the Chenna till it is soft and smooth. There should not be any lumps or grains present in the chenna. Do not mash too much or else it will become greasy.
11. While preparing the balls, the surface should be smooth without any cracks on it. Roll the balls in your palm till the outer layer is smooth and there is no cracks on the layer.
12. Use wide and flat bottom pan for preparing the sugar syrup. It helps in providing enough space for the balls to expand itself while cooking.
13. Here we have used 2 cups of Sugar for 6 cups of Water to prepare the Sugar Syrup. If you want to add extra sweetness to the syrup, add extra amount of sugar as per your choice.
14. Try to use White Refined Sugar to make the Sugar Syrup. It helps in making the malai chop white in colour.
15. While boiling the sugar syrup, if the syrup becomes thick, add small amount of water to it.
16. While preparing the malai chop balls, ensure that there are no cracks on the surface of the balls or else it may break while cooking.
17. Cook the Malai Chop balls for at least 20 minutes. After cooking the balls, switch off the stove and allow it to cool down. Cool the balls with the lid covered.
18. Stuff the Mawa stuffing only after the malai chop balls cools down completely or else it may break while stuffing.
19. You can also replace Saffron with lemon yellow or red orange natural or synthetic colours to prepare the stuffing.
20. Use Homemade Mawa to prepare this recipe. It is healthy and is free from adulteration. It adds extra taste to the sweet.