Rasgullas

Other name - Bengali Rasgullas

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 10 min
Yields: 12 to 15

Ingredients

1. Milk - 1 liter
2. Lemon juice - 3tbsp
3. Water - 3.5 cups
4. Sugar - 1 cup
5. Cardamom pods (just the peels) - 10 to 12
   

Method

1. Heat milk in a heavy bottomed vessel; as it starts to boil slowly add the lemon juice so that the milk curdles and the whey separates.
2. The whey appears clear at the end of the process.
3. Immediately add about 10-15 ice cubes and turn off flame; set aside for about 3 min.
4. Strain the whey and add the chhena to a damp cheese cloth or muslin cloth.
5. Gather all the four corners of the cloth, twist gently and rinse under cold water to remove the sourness of the lemon juice.
6. Tie the ends and hang it at a comfortable height so that the whey drains completely; leave aside for half an hour.
7. Remove the chhena onto a wide plate; knead it gently for around 10 min until soft showing no traces of moisture.
8. Kneading is a very important step in the process as it imparts soft & spongy texture to the rasgullas.
9. Meanwhile, prepare the sugar syrup by heating sugar & water in a large sized pressure cooker.
10. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved completely; add the cardamom peels & bring to boil.
11. In between, make small pebble sized balls out of the kneaded chhena & keep aside.
12. Once the syrup starts to boil, gently drop in the chhena balls & close the pressure cooker with lid.
13. Make sure that there are no cracks on the chhena balls.
14. Steam cook for about 7 to 10 min; do not pressure cook using cooker weight.
15. Switch off gas; give a standing time to the pressure cooker before opening the lid.
16. Place cooker under running water or pour cold water over the cooker; open lid & transfer contents to a serving bowl.
17. Rasgullas should be fairly spongy in texture; once you refrigerate, the sponginess reduces & the rasgullas become quite soft in texture.
18. Serve rasgullas either chilled or at room temperature.

NOTE

• I was in shortage of Rose water while preparing the recipe hence I added cardamom peels; adding rose water enhances the flavor of rasgullas comparatively.