Rasgulla

Rasgulla! I am a big fan of Bengali sweets. Be it any- rasmalai, rasgulla, chenna pais, chom chom or even rasmalai cake 😋 . Ya I know that I said I will uploading rasmalai before rasgulla, but what to do? The picture was just so tempting. One of the main reasons why I want to share this recipe with all of you is the unique and easy cooking method. It is a method which was very new to me. After the chena is rolled into cute little balls, they are pressure cooked in sugar syrup. They turn out cottony soft. Just like clouds. By the time I finished clicking the pics, they were perfect in texture and taste. So I suggest that you leave the rasgullas to soak in the sugar syrup for some time before serving, so that they are perfect when you eat them.

This recipe was given to me by my friend Sandya. And all the super helpful tips were given to me by Vineetha, another friend. My first try in rasgulla didn’t go that well. I followed the common method of cooking the rasgullas in sugar water in an open pan. They turned out to be super hard. But now no more worries! And the chopped nuts and saffron added some colour and taste to the sweet. Now that this is over, the next in line is the rasmalai recipe. Go make yourself some Rasgullas and enjoy!

Preparation time: 5 minutes| Cooking time: 20 to 30 minutes
Course: Desserts| Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients:

Full cream milk- 1 litre

Lemon juice – from one full lemon

Sugar- 1 cup

Water- 1 cup

Saffron- a pinch (for garnish)

Pista- 5 to 6 (cut into small pieces, for garnish)

Method:

1.      Boil 1 litre of full cream milk in a vessel. Let it boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Switch off flame. Leave it for 5 minutes. 

2.     Start adding the lemon juice. Add a spoon first, mix well with a ladle and see if the milk curdles. If not, add little more. Mix well with a ladle.

3.      Within three to four minutes the milk will fully curdle. 

4.      Use a muslin cloth and strain the whey water. Keep the whey water aside.

5.      Pour a glass of ice cold water over the chena ( paneer obtained from curdling the milk.) to remove the smell of lemon. Squeeze the muslin cloth and remove the excess water from the chena. Take care that some amount of moisture is still there in chena.

6.      Transfer it to a plate. Use the edge of your palm and start pressing the chena. This will make it soft. You need to keep pressing for 10 minutes.

7.      Add a cup of sugar and a cup of water to a cooker pan. Let it boil in low flame until the sugar dissolves.

8.      In the meanwhile start making small balls with the chena. By the time you finish making the balls, the sugar would have dissolved.

9.      Add all the chena balls to the sugar syrup. Close the lid. Cook for one whistle. Switch off immediately.

10.   The rasgulla balls would have doubled in size. Transfer it to a container and garinsh with saffron and pistas.

Notes:

·        If the mentioned amount of lemon juice is not enough to curdle the milk, feel free to add more.

·        Don’t throw away the whey water. It is very nutritious. We can use it for making dough for chappatis, cooking pastas and soups.

·        When you are making the balls out of chena, make sure that there are no cracks. Or else the rasgullas might break while being cooked.

·        Cook for only one whistle and immediately switch off.

Step by step pictures

 boil milk in kadai

switch off stove 

add lemon juice

let the mik curdle

 milk is fully curdled

 strain the whey water

using a muslin cloth

 pour a glass of cold water on chena

squeeze the cloth and remove excess water

 immediately transfer chena to a plate.

start pressing the chena with 

the edge of your palm

press for ten minutes.

boil sugar and water in a pressure pan

boil in low flame for the sugar to dissolve

while the sugar is getting dissolved 

make small balls out of the chena

add the balls to the sugar syrup

close the lid

pressure cook for one whistle

switch off immediately.

transfer to a vessel and garnish 

with saffron and nuts