Rasgulla

                                                       

Rasgulla is one of the most favorite sweet from West Bengal. They are made from home made cheese called paneer or chenna, that is kneaded into soft balls, and cooked in boiling sugar syrup until they swell up to spongy balls. It has been years since I made these yummy balls. I made them today for my birthday (that's tomorrow).

Ingredients:

For making chenna:

2 liter whole milk (8 cups)

4-5 Tablespoons lemon juice

few ice cubes

For Sugar Syrup:

2 1/2 Cups granulated sugar

8 Cups water

4 pods cardamom

1 teaspoon rose water (optional)

few strands of saffron to garnish

Method:

To make paneer or chenna:

1. Boil milk in a large heavy bottom pot.

2. Reduce heat to low. Stir in lemon juice until milk curdles. When milk curdles completely, you will see thin whey underneath the paneer.

3. Turn the stove off. Add ice cubes to the whey. This makes paneer soft. 

4. Allow to cool. Drain paneer from the water onto a cheese cloth or a muslin cloth. Tie the paneer in the muslin and hang it to drain all the water from it. 

                                                               

5. Once the water is drained, place chenna on a flat surface or bowl.

                                                              

 6. Knead for 5-9 minutes to a soft ball and is not sticky.

7. Divide chenna into small equal sized balls. I got 24 balls from the paneer. Cover with the moist cloth.

                                                                    

Method to make sugar syrup:

1. Place 8 cups of water in a broad sauce pan or pressure pan on medium heat. Be sure to have a pan that is broad enough to have room for the paneer balls to swell and not crush each other. Add  pods of cardamom.

2. Stir in 2 1/2 cups sugar.

                                                 

3. Bring sugar syrup to a rolling boil. Add rose water if you choose to. 

                                                                

5. Remove cardamom pods. Gently drop the chenna balls into the sugar syrup.

                                                               

6. Close the pressure pan immediately with the lid. Cook at constant heat for 10 minutes.

                                                              

7.Open the lid in between after 5 minutes. Gently stir syrup with a skewer, without disturbing rasgullas. Promptly cover with the lid and cook for 5 more minutes. By now the rasgullas should have swelled in size.

8. Turn the stove off and remove the pan from the stove. Do not disturb the pan for 20 minutes. Do not open the lid. This would prevent the rasgullas from shrinking.

9. Cool rasgullas in the pan. Transfer them to an air tight container. Refrigerate before serving. Garnish with saffron strands before serving.

10. Once cooled, taste syrup for sweetness. You can make more syrup.

Additional syrup:

1. Take 1/4 cup sugar in a small pan. 

2. Gently ladle out 3/4 syrup to the pan. 

3. Bring it to a boil to make syrup. 

4. Allow it to cool completely. Gently pour it over the rasgullas.

                                     

Notes:

1. You can add 1 teaspoon all purpose flour to the paneer before kneading for soft dough, that is very essential for a good texture of rasgullas.

2. Over cooking can result in rubbery rasgullas. 

3. Sugar syrup must be boiling at all times at constant heat, while cooking the balls.