Rasagulla (Bengali Sweet)

Rasagulla is a famous  Bengali sweet/desert and the method is very simple but I can’t guarantee the output. Because we need to follow the procedure carefully so that the correct texture of rasagullas  can be obtained. I heard lot of stories  from my friends about making rasagullas at home. I have tried it long before but I got the exact texture at the very first attempt. Today, being a special day, my husband’s birthday, I wanted to try it again to surprise my hubby. I recollected the recipe and started this venture with a little doubt but ended up with great result. This time also I got it right!. I thought of sharing this recipe immediately, so that it will be useful for our forthcoming festivals , especially for Diwali. My husband will also  have a look at this special sweet I have made on his B’day!

Ingredients:

• Milk (full fat) – 500  ml
• Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
• Sugar – 100 ml
• Water – 300 ml
• Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
• Ice cubes – few
• Pistachio for decoration 

Method:

1. .Boil milk and add lemon juice, stir the contents so that the milk curdles totally and the whey water gets separated.
2. Swich off and add the ice cubes and stir.
3. Drain the whey water using a clean muslin cloth  and rinse it under running water .
4. Gently press to remove the excess water from the paneer and hang it for 10 minutes.
5. Transfer the contents from the muslin cloth in a bowl and knead it gently for about 5 minutes.
6. Make it like a small ball. I got around 12 small balls out of ½ litre milk.
7. Place a kadai on stove, pour water, sugar and cardamom powder. When the sugar gets dissolved completely, strain the syrup using metal strainer.
8. Again heat the sugar syrup in a kadai/vessel, when it boils, gently drop the balls into the sugar syrup and boil in medium heat for about  2 minutes. Then simmer and close it with a lid , cook the balls for about 10 minutes, opening the lid now and then.
9. Now you will find the rasagullas become double in size. At this stage, switch off and refrigerate and serve the yummy rasagullas.

Note:

1. Kneading part plays an important role in getting porous rasagullas, so do this with enough patience.
2. Don’t overheat the sugar syrup, if you find that it is thick while straining you can add some water.
3. We can use whey water for curdling the milk which is the way the Bengalis use to curdle. This will also give soft rasagullas.

Tag: Bengali sweet, Bengali desert, Indian sweet, Indian desert, Diwali recipes, milk based sweet recipe, sugar syrup recipe.