As a whole, Indian desserts rely primarily on two ingredients: milk and butter (and sugar, but that's a given, right?). In most cases, it's easy to find a suitable replacement for both of these (coconut oil, anyone?), but not all desi desserts are created equal. Ras malai, a rich concoction of cheese, cream and cardamom, is traditionally made by boiling balls of paneer (cottage cheese) in a sugary syrup until chewy and then soaking them in a cardamom-spiced cream sauce. Decadent - yes. Delicious - obviously. Vegan - not so much. The challenge in veganizing ras malai is recreating the sweet chewiness of the boiled paneer. There are several ingredients that can act as suitable stand-ins for one of those elements, but both gets a little tricky. Not to fear, tofu to the rescue. Not only is tofu cost-efficient, readily-available and heart-healthy, but it's got plenty of satiating protein to boot! That should help keep those New Year's resolutions on track, right?

Tofu Malai [Vegan]

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