Rasgulla - Traditional Bengali Sweet

Since childhood, I've had a weakness for Bengali sweets like Soft Rasgullas, Rasmalai and Sandesh, just because they have a juicy and rich texture made of ricotta cheese and khoya, and combined with "ras", made with either sugar syrup or milk, these delicious indian sweets never fail to impress! "Rasogullas", as they are called in West bengal, are favorites with not just the locals, people around the country love them. They have a fake reputation of being hard to make at home. But I'd seen my mom make these when I was young, so it gave me enough strength to try making them myself. After some hesitation, a bit of aprehension, and a mindset to not feel bad if they didn't turn out well, I was surprised to find that my rasgullas were actually pretty good!

I had a big batch of homemade paneer and as RCI-Bengal was around the corner, I decided to try a hand at my favourite indian sweet. The recipe is simple, its just the pressure-cooking part that makes you apprehensive. I have added some tips to keep your rasgullas soft, and hope they help you in your sweet venture too! Remember, its definitely worth the effort!

Ingredients
2 cups homemade paneer
2 tsp all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
6-7 strands of saffron (kesar)
2 tsp cardamom powder (optional)
3 cups water

Method
Make paneer at home following my recipe for homemade paneer. (sorry, I didn't want to type it all again!:))

Take the paneer at room temperature, add 2 tsp of flour and crumble this mixture in a food processor. Pulse coarsely for 30 to 40 seconds.

To make the sugar syrup, pour 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Add 1 cup sugar(keep the other 1 cup for later) and bring this to a boil on medium heat.

Meanwhile knead the ricotta cheese mixture again for about 1 minute using your hands. Rub it against the palms to make it smooth; remember, the more you knead the softer the rasgullas will be, and the easier it would be to shape them.

Now divide the mixture into 15 equal sized portions and roll them into balls or any other desired shapes. I have made rasmalai before, hence find it easier to shape these into flatter discs as it gets cooked faster.

When the sugar syrup comes to a boil, gently drop the rasgulla balls into the syrup. Close the cooker and pressure cook for about 7-8 mins. After one whistle, wait for 5 minutes and turn off the stove.

Do not overcook, else the rasgullas will become too hard. It's generally good to wait for one whistle to go off, then turn off heat and check if the balls are cooked. They should approximately double in size and become fluffy. If you think they are not done yet, cover the lid, without the whistle, and cook for another 5 mins or so at medium heat.

Open the cooker after 10 minutes and add the cardamom powder to the syrup and stir gently. Add another 1 cup of sugar and let it boil. Take the saffron strands and place in 2 tbsp warm water. Microwave for 1 minute, when it starts bleeding, add the saffron water to the sugar syrup to evenly flavor and color the entire sugar syrup.

Allow the rasgullas to cool before transferring them to a container and refrigerate till ready to use. If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can do this is a large crockpot too. Just keep it covered to allow steam to build and cook the rasgullas.

How To Make Rasgullas Soft?
I came across this while looking for tips to make rasgullas soft. To achieve this, divide your sugar in half; add only 1 cup sugar in the syrup initially and let it boil. Put the balls in boiling syrup; as soon as they puff up in about 5 to 10 minutes, remove the cheese balls. Add the remaining one cup of sugar. Heat till all the sugar is absorbed. Do NOT stir; turn off heat when syrup gets thick. Keep these tips in mind:

1. The more you knead the cheese (chenna), the softer your rasgullas will be
2. Do not add too much flour as that will make them hard
3. Do not let the cheese balls sit long; immediately cook them in the sugar syrup to keep them soft and allow them to puff up.

When serving, layer the rasgullas, add a generous helping of the syrup and garnish with chopped pistachios or saffron strands. Serve chilled and enjoy a traditional Bengali sweet! To make Kesar Rasmalai instead, follow the exact same recipe but use milk instead of sugar syrup.

Related Recipes:
Gulkand and Khoya Burfi
Coconut Laddoos
Gajar ka Halwa

Related Tags
paneer, indian-sweets, rasmalai, diwali-recipes

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