Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Rasgulla

Rasgulla / Rosgulla is a famous Indian Bengali sweet. It is usually served as dessert along with some jeera (syrup).
It is my hubby's top pick whenever we visit some Bengali sweet shop. So I prepare this often in small batches before he starts craving :)

There are two ways to make the rasgulla. The authentic version is to slow cook in a half closed pan and the modern type is to pressure cook it.
I am used to the authentic one, which my mom taught. I feel it as more safer to make soft rasgullas. My mom's recipe note book would emphasize the usage of lemon instead of vinegar and rose essence instead of cardamom. I followed her way completely and got the best result.

Here comes the well known recipe.

Chenna after straining:



Rasagulla soaked in sugar syrup:



Ingredients:
Milk (full fat) - 1 litre (5 cups)
AP flour (maida) - 2 tsp
Lemon - 1
(or)vinegar - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Rose essence - 3 drops
(or)cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Boil milk in a vessel.
Squeeze the lemon and mix 1/2 cup water to the juice.
Add the lemon juice / vinegar to the boiling milk and stir slowly.
Put off heat.
Now the milk gets curdled to form paneer (a cheese variety).

(Chenna preparation is beautifully explained by Vinolia. So just click to see if you need more clarity.)


Place a cheese cloth / new white cloth over the strainer and pour the curdled milk.
Pour some cold water to remove the lemon's sourness.
Squeeze out all the water and make a bundle using the cloth. Place it on the strainer or hang over a kitchen sink to loose all the water content.
Let it remain in this position for 45 mins to 2 hours , depending upon the quantity.

The hard cheese we get is called chenna. We can buy it in Indian grocery stores also.

Now knead the chenna to make a smooth dough. Add flour and knead again.

Make small balls of equal size of 1.5 cm diameter approximately and keep aside.

In another vessel mix sugar and water in a saucepan and bring it to boil.

Once it starts boiling add the chenna balls and cook covered for 30 minutes (with lid partially open).

The rasagulla will become double the size.

Drop one ball in cold water and if it sinks to the bottom , then it is cooked well.
If not so , then cook for another 5 minutes.

Switch off flame and add rose essence / cardamom powder.

Rasgulla is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve chilled as dessert.
The above said quantity is enough to make 15 - 20 rasgullas.

Tips:

Apply some ghee and roll the rasgulla balls , as the cracked ones may disintegrate quickly.
some people prefer pressure cooking the rasgulla instead of my pan method.
We can add 1/2 the quantity of sugar and some Zero calorie sweetener to get a more healthier version too.

26 comments:

Sushma Mallya said...

wow that looks perfect,didnt know it was so easy,surely looks delicious and a nice click too

Tina said...

Yummy and perfect...

gtyuk said...

Your rasagullas look perfect Viki, nicely bulged up, even surface and spongy soft !!rassagullas are my all time favourite too; I can eat a dozen of them without fuss!!!

I've tried the pressure cooked method, I never got them right ( never bulge up well) , I should try this method;
the "dropping in the cold water" test is good too, will keep that in mind next time :)

thank you for referring me dear (what to say, I'm flying up already..... :)

I've tried your kale leaves poriyal too, it came out great; will be posting it very soon! have a nice day!!!

Sailaja Damodaran said...

wow!!!!!! delicious.....great effort.

San said...

Amazing n perfect rasagullas,any one would crave for them.

Rina said...

Viki..thanks for this wonderfully explained Rasgulla treat..you really inspire me to try it..I'm only scared of the sugar that goes into it..but may be i should go half and half of sugar and splenda..Enjoy the festive season..

prasu said...

wow.............looks perfect dear...yummy yumm...can u send me some ..........

Siddhi Shirsat said...

hey i just love this rasgullas..even i make them often...got nice tips from u...nice clicks to

Lavanya Siva said...

rasgulla looks perfect. my hubby fav.

Sarah Naveen said...

wow!!! perfect and yummy...love to have one now..

Sunitha said...

Wow! thank you much.. now I can make rasagulla's too.. blogs never cease to surprise me.. thankyou

nithya praveen said...

Awww they look sooo good Viki.They have nicely bulged up.Good one:).Cold water test is an interesting idea,shall use that the next time i make them.,thanks!

Nandinis food said...

Wow! Perfect rasgulla's ! That is a wonderful tip about rasgulla dropping in cold water. Rasgulla origin is Orissa and I came to know from a blogger friend.

Soma Pradhan said...

i tried once and was disaster..ur looks lovely dear

Gita Jaishankar said...

Wow Viki...nice tempting and yummy pictures Viki...we too love ragagullas though I never tried making them at home...your method sounds easy too...thanks dear :) Hey you put your photo too..nice da :)

suvaiyaana suvai said...

wow looks beautiful!!!

Anupama said...

So tempting Viki.. they look beautiful :-)

Namitha said...

yummy..love this sweet and yours look perfect :-)

Sharmistha Guha said...

Lovely looking rasgullas/roshogollas!!

I make them often, using the pressure cooker method! My grandmom used to make it without pr.cooker

http://cookadoodledo.blogspot.com/2009/03/roshogolla-or-rasgulla.html

Unknown said...

thye look so spongy and delicious..

Cynthia said...

This amazing treat has been on my to-make list for ages! Got to give it a go. Yours looks awesome.

my kitchen said...

One of my favorite sweet,looks perfect

Sandhya Hariharan said...

Its soo perfect.. Didnt know we could make it soo easily

Jaleela Kamal said...

rompa arumaiyaana kadappaa, ithu varai ithai seythathillai.

Anonymous said...

I tried your recipe. I added 1 cup of water, but i think it is not enough. My rasagullas burnt on one side.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Anonymous:I don't know what went wrong for you! Have you added the above mentioned sugar? Hope you might have left the rasgulla unattended. Generally they don't get burnt:) You need to stand near it and watch .Moreover this is a perfect recipe for me.

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