Rabri and motichoor ladoo separately are two of my favorite Indian desserts so i thought why not combine the two? This is a delicious bite of a cup made of motichoor ladoo filled with thick creamy rabri (cream). Caramlised nuts as a garnish gives it an amazing crunch. Such a fun colorful way to serve Indian mithai fusion. This is great treat for festivities!

Made with very easy ingredients, i used ready made ladoos but you can choose to make your own. I made my own rabri - recipe below or you can use store bought if you want.
Happy Cooking!

Servings: 8 medium cups or 14-16 small cups

Prep Time: 1.5 hours

Chilling Time: 12 hours to overnight

Total Time: 12-14 hours

Ingredients: 

• 8 motichoor ladoos- check notes

• 2 cups whole milk

• 2-3 tbsp sugar (depending on taste) + 2 tbsp sugar

• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

• 4-5 strands saffron + 2tbsp milk in a bowl

• 2-3 tbsp water

• 5 thinly sliced almonds
  

Directions: 

1. Let the saffron strands sit in the 2 tbsp of milk and let it soak up. Keep aside.

2. Take a cupcake/muffin tray. Place a cling wrap over the tray larger than the tray. It needs to be able to cover the cavities as well.

3. Place 1 motichoor ladoo in each cavity. For a smaller cavity space you may need to break in half.

4. Using a pestle or rounded spoon gently press down the ladoo to form a cavity and take the shape of the tray cavity. You do not want a very deep cavity, a thick base so it can hold the Rabri.

5. Use your hands to press down the edges of the ladoo cup and form somewhat equal thick borders.

6. De-mold the ladoo cup and check It has a thick border and base and no holes. They need to be able to hold the Rabri.

7. Let the ladoo cups remain in the cupcake trays for at least 1 hour in the fridge to set.

8. While the cups are setting make the Rabri.

9. For the rabri- In a heavy bottom saucepan, add 2-3 tbsp of water. Keep the flame on low-medium.

10. Add the milk to the pan. Stir frequently and cook on low. To form the rabri the milk has to be boiled on a low flame while collecting the malai (cream) layer on top that is formed to make it to a thick creamy dessert.

11. As the malai layer on top forms, using a spatula scrape it to the edge of the pan. Keep stirring to prevent the milk from burning. Keep repeating this and scarping the malai to the edges.

12. The milk should thicken and reduce to half.

13. When it reduces to less than half, stir in the scraped malai and add the sugar and cardamom powder.

14. Keep cooking on a low flame and scraping the malai layer. You want the Rabri to be creamy and thick so it does not flow out of the ladoo cups. It should be about 1/3 of the milk amount.

15. When the Rabri gets thick add the saffron and milk kept aside. Mix it in.

16. I like to give it one final boil and collect the malai to make sure it is thick.

17. Let the Rabri cool down and thicken for about 10-12 mins.

18. For the caramelised almonds- in a pan add 2 tbsp sugar and sliced almonds on low flame. Spread it out. Let the sugar start melting and start caramelising. Start mixing it and cook till the almonds are fragrant and coated in sugar. Keep aside.

19. Take the ladoo cups out of the fridge. Fill in 1 tbsp of rabri (for the medium size) in each ladoo cup cavity.

20. Let it set for 15 mins in the fridge.

21. Garnish with the caramelised nuts. This gives it a nice crunch to the bite.

22. Let it chill in the fridge for 10 hours to overnight in the fridge.

23. Remove from the cupcake tray carefully and serve cold. Check notes and tips.

Notes/Tips:

• Use small or medium sized motichoor ladoos so they an be pressed well. do not use very dry ladoos as they wont clump together well to form cups.

• You can use store bought rabri if you want, just make sure it is thick and let it set for a couple of hours in the cups so it does not break or flow out.

• Make sure the ladoo cups are well formed with a cavity to fill the rabri and a thick border and base. It should not have any holes.

• Adding water to the pan helps prevent the milk from sticking to the base or burning.

• Make sure you keep cooking on a low flame while making the rabri.

• The cups with rabri needs to set well so that it holds it shape and does not break or fall out.

• The rabri needs to be thick so it doe not flow out. You need to cook it till atleast it comes down to 1/3 the milk amount.

• If you want you can use pistachio or walnuts or skip the nuts entirely if you want.

• If they crack- Sometimes they crack but do not worry it will not flow out if its set well. If it is cracking it could be because the ladoos were dry so they did not clump together.

• If they break- set them back in the cupcake tray and gently press down the edges to form. Let it set in the freezer for 1 hour.

• Serve them in round cups or even in the muffin pan (remove the cling wrap) to ensure they do not crack.