Rasgulla recipe, Homemade rasgulla, Soft and spongy rasgulla

Rasgulla is a soft and fluffy white colored round shaped delicious Indian dessert (Bengali) that needs no introduction. Rasgulla is made from curdled milk called chenna, which is kneaded into soft dough, shaped, cooked in sugar syrup, chilled and then served. Making rasgulla requires some patience and time with some key techniques but anything with practice can be made perfect. I have made this rasgulla in traditional version and I have also added a collage with description for beginners in note section which yields perfect shaped rasgulla. I usually don’t like to curdle milk and usually make rasgulla/ rasmalai at home only when I have lot of milk at home that is really nearing expiry date as I feel it is productive to use the milk that way. I have also added few notes along with the direction that i have followed all the years in achieving soft and fluffy rasgulla. So lets get to the making of rasgulla!

[sam id=”1″ codes=”true”]

Ingredients

Milk – 1 liter
Water – ¼ cup
Curd – ½ cup (whisked)
Ice cubes/ Ice water – 5 to 10/ 1 cup
Saffron strand – few (for garnish)
Pistachio – 1 tbsp (for garnish)

Ingredients For sugar syrup

Sugar – 1 cup
Water – 3 cup
Cardamom – 1

Note

* 1 cup = 160 ml

[sam id=”2″ codes=”true”]

How to make rasgulla with step by step images

In a pan/ pot add ¼ cup water then add milk. Mix well and allow it to boil well. Adding water first eliminates milk getting burnt in the bottom. When the milk starts to boil put the flame to low and add curd little by little to the boiling milk and mix well.
After adding all the curd to the milk, after few seconds you will notice the milk curdling.
As soon as the milk has curdled put off the flame and add ice cubes/ ice water to the curdled milk to prevent it from over boiling or to stop the process. This curdled milk is called chenna. Do not keep heating the curdled milk as it will yield rubbery rasgullas. Remove the pan from the stove and keep it aside for 5 minutes.
Now after 5 minutes take colander/ strainer, on it place a muslin cloth/ thin cotton cloth/cheese cloth. Place the strainer in clean sink/ over a big bowl as we will drain the chenna/ curdled milk in it. Now gently pour the chenna in the muslin cloth and the water will start draining gradually. Now wash the chenna well in running water to get rid of curd flavors.
Now after all the water is completely drained tie the cloth really tight, squeeze as much as water possible and hang the cloth for around 30 to 40 minutes till all the water is drained. Do not allow it to hang for more than 30 to 40 minutes as the chenna might loose its texture.
Now after 30 to 40 minutes remove the chenna/ paneer from the muslin cloth and transfer it to a plate. Now using your hand knead the chenna/ paneer really well for about 5 minutes. This kneading is really important as it helps in forming proper balls of rasgulla and eliminates breaking of the rasgulla when boiling in sugar syrup. So take your time and knead it well.
After 5 minutes of proper kneading you will be able to make a soft dough with that chenna. Now divide pinch a small portion of chenna dough and roll it gently into soft ball, repeat the process till all chenna dough is complete. Make the ball very small as it will double in size when put in sugar syrup. When the balls are ready keep it aside covered with muslin cloth to prevent drying.
In a pan/ pot add water, sugar and cardamom. Mix well and allow to boil well.
When the sugar syrup boils really, drop the rasgulla balls one by one. Put the flame to medium and cook it covered for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes open the lid and you will notice soft and spongy rasgulla doubled in size. (They will be really fragile when hot and they will look perfect after they are completely cooked) Put off the flame and allow it to cool down and serve it chilled with saffron and pistachio as garnish!

Beginner note:

Allow the milk to boil well and only then add lemon juice or curd little by little. Adding too much lemon juice/ curd can make the chenna/ paneer hard. .
Also put off the flame as soon as you notice milk curdling and start adding ice as we need to stop the mixture from further boiling which will lead to hard and rubbery chenna.
So if you have already tried above method of making rasgulla and if you have experienced cracking of the balls after cooking it could be because of improper kneading. This could be eliminated by adding 1 tsp maida to chenna/ curdled milk while kneading the dough, which can be shaped and dropped in sugar syrup for cooking. This method gives perfectly shaped rasgullas but the disadvantage is they will be little hard and will be off white in color. But being very beginner its okay to adapt this method according to me.