rasgulla

Rasgulla is a popular bengali sweet made of milk and sugar. This recipe post shares how to make soft, spongy rasgulla at home.

Rasgulla Recipe

milk (or 4 cups (full fat or whole milk))

lemon juice

liter ice water (or few ice cubes)

refined white sugar ((¼ cup optional) (refer notes))

water

green cardamom pods (or elaichi)

rose water ((optional))

saffron stands ((optional) kesar for garnishing)

Rasgulla recipe

Bring milk to a boil in a pot.

If using non-homogenized milk (milk from milkman), then keep the pot aside. Wait for 5 mins.

If using homogenized milk from packets or cartons then reduce the flame to low.

Add 2 tbsp lemon juice &amp; stir until the milk curdles. 

If it doesn&#x27;t curdle, add more &amp; stir. 

When you see the milk curdled completely, Switch off the stove. Rest for 2 mins. 

Then pour cold water to the pot. This will stop the chena from cooking further &amp; keeps it soft.

Place a colander over a large bowl &amp; line with a thin cloth.&nbsp;Drain the curdled milk.

Rinse the chenna under running water to remove the acidic flavor.&nbsp;

Tie the cloth. Squeeze it well to remove the excess whey as much as possible.

Hang it for 1 to 1½ hours. Chenna should not have any excess whey. It must be crumbly.

Making chenna for rasgulla

Add sugar, cardamoms &amp; water to a wide pan or pot.&nbsp;

Make sure you use a wide pot good enough to hold all the rasgullas.&nbsp;

The balls will cook &amp; almost double in size only if there is enough space in the pot.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring it to a boil.

Making sugar syrup

Knead the chenna well to make it a smooth dough for 3 to 5 mins. I do it just for 3 mins.

Do not over knead to the extent that the chenna turns greasy or soggy. 

When you see the mixture turns uniformly smooth and no more grainy, then stop kneading.

Take small portions of this and roll to tiny balls.

They should be tiny and not big as they expand in size after boiling. I made about 16.

Add rose water to the sugar syrup. (optional).

Bring the sugar syrup to a rolling boil on a medium flame.

Remove the cardamom pods. Then add the balls one after the other gently.

Cover the pot immediately with a lid.&nbsp;

The syrup must be boiling steadily at a constant heat.

Cook on a medium flame for 9 to 10 mins . The syrup must be bubbling &amp; boiling steadily through out this time.&nbsp; So adjust the heat as needed depending on the kind of pot &amp; stove used.&nbsp;

After 5 mins gently stir the sugar syrup once with a skewer without touching the rasgullas. Cover immediately.&nbsp;

This ensures even cooking and puffing. During the cooking time if you feel the heat is too much reduce the heat slightly, but ensure it is still bubbling &amp; boiling.

After 10 mins, remove the pot immediately from the stove to prevent rasgulla&nbsp; from cooking further.&nbsp;

Keep the lid closed always otherwise they will shrink or fall flat. Do not open at least for 20 mins.

They double in size and also sink in syrup when cooked completely.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Allow rasgulla to rest and cool completely. Serve them chilled. If desired garnish with saffron.

How to make rasgulla

Once the rasgullas have rested for a while, taste the sugar syrup and check for sweetness.

If you prefer more sweeter rasgullas or syrup, then add ¼ cup sugar to a small pot.&nbsp;

With the help of a ladle transfer about 3/4 cup sugar syrup to the pot and make a sugar syrup. Cool this and pour to the rasgulla pot or pan.

Optional

Rasgulla is a popular Bengali sweet and is also called as rosogolla. This Bengali rasgulla recipe will guide you in making soft and spongy rasgulla.

rasgulla recipe

lemon juice, (add as required)

sugar

water (or 1 litre water)

milk ((optional))

Take milk in a pan and keep it to boil on a low to medium flame.&nbsp;

I used organic cow milk which does not have much fat. If you use buffalo milk, it has too much of fat and makes a thick layer of malai/cream floating on top. You have to remove the thick layer of malai, before you proceed with the making of chenna.

So when the milk is heating up, line a strainer or bowl with a cheese cloth or muslin.

Keep on stirring the milk at intervals so that the froth is not formed on top and the base does not get browned or the milk solids get stuck to the bottom.

When the milk comes to a boil, then reduce the flame to its lowest. Add 1 to 3 tbsp lemon juice. First add 1 tbsp lemon juice and stir. If the milk has not curdled completely, then add 1 tbsp more. Keep the lemon juice handy with you.

Depending on the quality of milk, you may need to add 1 to 3 tbsp of lemon juice. Stir after adding the lemon juice. Sometimes I have added 1 tbsp lemon juice and the milk has curdled and sometimes I needed to add 3 tbsp too. Vinegar also can be added instead of lemon juice.&nbsp;

Another option is curd/yogurt. Add 4 to 5 tbsp of yogurt or more if required. With yogurt you don't need to rinse the chenna in water later.

As soon as the milk curdles, switch off the flame. The milk should curdle completely with the green watery whey. If the milk does not curdle, then add ½ to 1 tbsp of lemon juice more.

Now pour the curdled milk in the cheese cloth/muslin lined strainer or bowl.

Gather the muslin from the sides and rinse the chenna or coagulated milk very well in running water. This brings down the temperature of chenna as well as removes the lemony flavor and tangy taste from the chenna.

Now squeeze the muslin with your hands very well, so that excess water is drained from the chenna. Remember there should not be excess water or moisture in the chenna as then the rasgulla will break when cooking.

Place a heavy weight on the chenna for 7 to 8 minutes. You can also hang the chenna for about 30 minutes.

making chenna

After 7 to 8 minutes, remove the cheesecloth from the chenna. Note that the chenna should not have too much moisture nor be too dry.

Add 1 tsp sooji or rava or semolina. You can also add all purpose flour (maida). Adding either of them helps to bind the mixture. For a gluten free option, add corn starch instead of semolina or all purpose flour.

First mix the sooji with chenna and then begin to knead.

With the heels of your palms mash the chenna and knead. Keep on collecting the chenna from the sides and continue to mash and knead.&nbsp;

This kneading process is very important and also decides the texture of chenna. When you feel your palms becoming a bit greasy, its time to stop. Just a bit of greasiness is required.

Avoid kneading to an extent where the whole chenna becomes greasy. I kneaded for about 10 minutes as I have very light hands. So depending on the quality of chenna and the pressure you apply while kneading, you can take more or less time. Note that the chenna should just begin to get greasy.

Knead to a smooth ball of chenna.

Now pinch small portions from the chenna and roll them between your palms to a smooth round ball.

Prepare all small balls this way. Cover all the chenna balls with a moist muslin or kitchen towel and keep aside.

making rasgulla balls

In a large pan, take 2 cups sugar and 4 cups water.

You have to use a large pot or pan so that there is enough space for the rasgulla to cook and increase in size. You can also use a pressure cooker. I used a pan measuring 8.5 inches in diameter and 4.5 in height. A 3.4 litre stainless steel pan.

Keep this pan on stove top and heat the sugar solution. Stir so that the sugar dissolves. I cooked kneaded the chenna and cooked the sugar syrup simultaneously. You can also do this way.

Add 1 tbsp milk and stir. Adding milk helps in removing impurities. If there are no impurities then you don't need to add milk and directly proceed to step 6

Once the sugar solution becomes hot, the impurities begin to float on the top. You can either remove it with a spoon. Or strain the impurities in a cheese cloth/muslin lined strainer.

Now from the purified sugar solution, reserve ½ cup in a cup or mug. This ½ cup of sugar solution we will be adding to the cooking rasgulla.

Reserve another 1 cup of the sugar solution in a serving bowl.

making sugar syrup for rasgulla

The rest of the 2.5 cups of sugar solution you add it back to the large pan and bring it to a boil on a medium high flame.

Slid the rasgulla gently into the sugar solution.

Once all the rasgulla have been added to the sugar solution, shake the pan. Don't stir the rasgulla with a spoon. Just gently shake the pan.

Cover immediately with a lid and let them cook. Keep the flame to a medium or medium high.

After 4 minutes, open the lid and add ¼ cup of the reserved sugar solution. Shake the pan. Adding this reserved sugar solution ensures that the temperature &amp; consistency of the sugar solution is maintained and the sugar does not cook to its thread consistencies.

Cover again and continue to cook.

After 4 minutes, again add ¼ cup of the reserved sugar solution. Cover and again cook for 2 minutes. I cooked for 10 minutes. The timing will vary depending on the thickness &amp; quality of pan, the depth of the pan and flame intensity.

cooking rasgulla

There are two ways. First place the rasgulla in a bowl or cup of water. If the rasgulla sinks to the bottom its cooked.&nbsp;

Second method is to press a small portion of the rasgulla with your finger. If the pressed portion bounces back to its original shape, its cooked

Once they are cooked, switch off the flame and keep the pan down.

to check the doneness of rasgulla

Now take each rasgulla with a spoon and place it in the bowl containing the 1 cup of sugar solution. Cover and keep aside.

Let the sugar solution in which the rasgulla were cooked, become warm. Then add this to the serving bowl containing the rasgulla.

Once the whole mixture has cooled down, add 1 to 2 tbsp rose water.&nbsp;

If you don&#039;t have rose water you can also kewra water (pandanus extract) or ½ tsp cardamom powder. Stir gently and allow them to be soaked in the sugar syrup for 30 minutes.

You can serve the rasgulla now or refrigerate them and serve later.

serving the rasgulla

Rasgullas are soft, spongy and light-as-air balls dipped in a sweet sugar syrup. Made with chena, a special milk cheese, here's one Indian dessert you'll not want to miss!

Bengali Rasgulla

toned cow milk

tbsp white vinegar mixed with 2 tbsp water

tsp cornflour

tsp white flour

white sugar

Pour the milk in a saucepan and set it on medium heat on the stovetop to boil. Stir it with a spoon a few times so that a film doesn't form on top. When the milk starts boiling, take it off the heat and stir it a few times again to bring down the temperature. While the milk is boiling, line a colander with a cheesecloth that covers it completely and place the colander over a deep bowl. This contraption will be used in the third step.  

After a minute or two of stirring the milk, add the vinegar and water solution bit by bit, stirring all the time. The milk will gradually curdle and you will be able to see the solids separating from the liquid. Immediately drain the contents of the saucepan into a cheesecloth lined colander you prepared earlier. It is the solids or cheese (chena) that you want. You can discard the liquid collected in the bowl. 

Hold the colander under a stream of cold water and let the liquid drain through. Washing the chena in this way gets rid of the smell of vinegar and prevents the chena from hardening. 

Switch off the tap and gather up the sides of the cheesecloth into a ball. With your other hand, press on the outside of this ball to squeeze out all the excess liquid, as much as you reasonably can. 

Turn the chena on to a wide platter or board and add the cornflour and white flour to it. Start rubbing it in a to-and-fro motion with the palms of your hand. The chena will come together into a soft dough in a few minutes.Break off small, coin-sized portions of the chena and shape into round balls. Cover the balls with a damp cloth.

Now make the sugar syrup. Put the sugar and 5-6 cups of water to boil in a large saucepan. Let it come to a boil, and as soon as it does, drop the chena balls in the boiling liquid immediately. Cover with a tight fitting lid without any delay and let the balls cook undisturbed on high heat for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the lid and let them cook for a further 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. The balls will shrink a little but not too much. When cool, transfer the balls along with syrup to a dish and refrigerate. Serve cold after 4-5 hours. 

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