Rasgulla Recipe | Easy Sweet Recipes

Rasgulla's are small cheese balls immersed in sugar syrup. It is a native dish of Bengal. Rasgulla is a traditional offering of puri temple. This spongy sweet is famous throughout India. Variations in rasgulla's is also tasty!

BENGALI RASGULLA RECIPE

Recipe Category: Indian | Sweets

Preparation Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes Serves: 30 pieces

Ingredients:

For Home-made Paneer:
Milk - 1 litre
Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp / 1 medium sized lemon

For Rasgulla Balls:
Semolina / Sooji / Rava - 1 tbsp

For Sugar Syrup:
First Step
Water - 2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Second Step
Sugar - 1 cup

Method of Preparation:
For Home-made Paneer: 1. Boil milk in a big vessel. Once its boiled, put in low flame and add lemon juice. Mix well for few seconds until they curdle and the whey water leaves. Once the whey water has turned slightly greenish,it means the milk has curdled completely. Switch off. let it rest for 3-5 minutes. Using a clean muslin cloth placed over a strainer and a vessel underneath, strain the whey water fully. Now, rinse the curdle with running water. Gather the cloth form all four sides and squeeze well to remove any water. Hang it in a tap or leave it to rest for 30 minutes hanging to remove any excess water.

2. Place the home made panner crumble in a working surface or plate. Add semolina/rava and knead along with it for 15 minutes or once the mixture turns greasy. That means the dough is ready. Roll the dough into 1" inch balls and don't let it dry.

3.For Sugar Syrup: Heat water and sugar (Ratio Water:Sugar::2:1) until the sugar dissolves.  Keep stirring in between. Once the sugar dissolves and the syrup starts bubbling, add the rasgulla balls one by one. This is first step, the sugar syrup is thin letting the rasgulla's easily absorb the sugar syrup.

4. Cook it covered for 8-10 minutes in low flame til they double in size. Keep opening in between and give a gentle stir also to let the vapour pass off. Once the rasgulla's double in size, remove and keep it separate. Add 1 cup of sugar to the boiling sugar syrup and let it come to bubbling heat and the sugar dissolves completely. Switch off. Once the sugar syrup comes to room temperature, add the rasgulla's. It's ready!!! Light and spongy rasgulla's.

Notes:

• The key to kneading is when the dough starts to leave out oil or you feel your hands are greasy. The more you knead perfectly, you get the more perfect balls. Else it will go hard. 
• The smoother you roll the balls, the perfect it will be without cracks. 
• While dropping in the balls have the syrup boiling in high flame and simmer once its all dropped in. 
• The whey water can be used for making chappathi's.
• Since we have added lemon juice to curdle the milk, rinse well in water so it doesn't have the lemon tint.
• You can also make multi coloured rasgulla's by adding different food colours to dough while preparing. Usual colours are mild yellow and pink. 
• The consistency of sugar syrup is very important, if its too thick, the syrup will not be absorbed by rasgulla's and it will go hard on outside. That is why we prefer the 2 step method of making rasgulla. 
• Complete the process of sugar syrup cooking and soaking as you make the balls, else it will turn hard.  
• Another way of making rasgulla is pressure cooking the rasgulla's with water. Then adding in sugar syrup (Ratio Water:Sugar::1:1) 
• Maida/ Semolina acts as a binder. You can also replace this with baking powder. Which gives you a even more spongy rasgulla.