Rasgulla
A melt in the mouth soft and spongy cheese balls in light and sweet mild cardamom flavored sugary syrup. Its a traditional and easy to make Bengali sweet that you can’t go wrong with.
Rasgulla or popularly known as Rosogolla in local dialect, actually originated from Orissa and as with many other Indian sweet and dessert recipes, requires only three basic ingredients (milk, sugar and lemon juice) which are easily available in any kitchen all the time. In this step by step photo recipe of Rasgulla first chhena (aka paneer or Indian cottage cheese) is prepared from milk using lemon juice and then small balls prepared from it are cooked in sugar syrup to give it a sweet character.
Rasgulla or popularly known as Rosogolla in local dialect, actually originated from Orissa and as with many other Indian sweet and dessert recipes, requires only three basic ingredients (milk, sugar and lemon juice) which are easily available in any kitchen all the time. In this step by step photo recipe of Rasgulla first chhena (aka paneer or Indian cottage cheese) is prepared from milk using lemon juice and then small balls prepared from it are cooked in sugar syrup to give it a sweet character.
| Ingredients: |
| 1 liter Full Cream Milk (cow milk is preferable) |
| 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice |
| 1½ cups Sugar (little less or more, as per your taste) |
| 4 cups Water |
| 2-3 Green Cardamom Pods, optional |
Note:
Directions:- In this recipe, we have used Kirkland signature brand whole milk available in Costco to make Rasgulla. However, you can use any brand of whole milk. Use cow’s milk for better results.
- Read/follow recipe of fresh paneer (chhena) (follow steps 1 to 5) to prepare fresh paneer (chhena) at home. If you are following the given link to prepare chhena then skip step-1 and step-2 given below.
- Bring the milk to boil over medium flame. Mix lemon juice with 2 tablespoons water.
- When milk comes to rolling boil, add water-lemon juice mixture gradually and stir continuously using spatula. Solid milk portion and liquid whey portion will start to separate within minute or two. When it separates completely, turn off the flame. Spread a cheese-cloth (plain muslin cloth) over large strainer or colander and transfer over it and drain the whey. Rinse it in running water or pour 2-3 glasses of plain water over it to remove sourness (lemony taste).
- Drain water and tie chhena in a muslin cloth. Squeeze it gently to drain the excess water and hang it for 30 minutes to get the right amount of moisture. Do not hang it for more than 30 to 45 minutes.
- Untie the muslin cloth and transfer chhena to a plate.
- Crumble it with hand. It should be crumbly and little moist. If it is too dry, rasgulla will turn hard and if it is too soft, they will break while cooking and will not retain their shape after cooking.
- Knead it using hand until it all comes together like dough and it starts to release some fat. Your palm will turn little greasy; it’s an indication that it has started to release fat. Stop kneading after that.
- Make 13-15 small balls from kneaded paneer dough. The size of balls will increase to almost double after boiling in sugar syrup in next step so do not make very large balls.
- Heat 1½ cups sugar with 4-cups water and cardamom pods in a large broad vessel (having lid) like pressure cooker or saucepan over medium flame and make sugar syrup.
- When it comes to rolling boil, gently drop prepared balls in it.
- Cover it with a lid and let it cook over medium flame. If you are using pressure cooker, just put the lid over cooker, do not use whistle.
- After about 5-minutes, remove the lid and stir it gently with a spatula. Again, cover it with a lid and let it boil over medium flame for 7-8 minutes, stir it gently once in between. Remove lid and turn off the flame. You will notice that size of balls has increased to almost double.
- They will shrink a little after turning off the flame but it is normal. (If it shrinks too much then its an indication that something has gone wrong.) Transfer them to a large bowl and let them cool for 5-6 hours. Rasgulla are now ready for serving.
Tips and Variations:
- Use full fat cow’s milk for best results. However, if it is not available, you can use regular milk.
- Do not use store bought paneer to make this sweet.
- Use deep and wide mouthed vessel for perfect cooking.
- If prepared chhena is too dry (in step-4), rasgulla will turn hard and if it is too soft, they will break while cooking and not retain their shape after cooking.
- Do not knead chhena after it starts to release the fat in step-5.
- It is necessary to keep the syrup boiling all the time while cooking the rasgulla in it. Do not cook it over low flame. If required, increase the flame to high to keep the syrup boiling.
- Do not change the quantity of water and do not reduce the quantity of sugar (you can add more sugar) as they are required to cook them perfectly.
- If you want to double the recipe, cook them in batches (from step-8 to step-10). You can use the same sugar syrup for the second batch. If syrup is not enough, add water and sugar in same ratio as given in ingredients table above for cooking the second batch.
Taste: Soft, spongy and juicy with mild cardamon flavor.
Serving Ideas: Serve it as a dessert after dinner or as a sweet with meal in lunch. It can be enjoyed at any time with any savory snack.