RASGULLA (Cottage cheese balls soaked in sugar syrup)

Rasgullas are by far one of the most famous desserts in India. With a Bengali Origin, they are by far easy to make too, but a little tricky. They are soft, spongy and juicy once you pop them into your mouth and just melt away!!!

The first time I had them was in Chennai at a sweet stall called Archana Sweets. They were just so good that I really loved the kachak kachak sound the paneer made once you bite them. 

I wanted to bring back the same experience and I succeeded. It was indeed a memory of my childhood re visited. This time I made these for my mother - in - law who is staying with us for sometime. This is her most favorite dessert and she pops quite a few once in a while :) :) ;) 

I wanted to make a pictorial representation for the same but my bratty of the toddler would not let me do it!! So had to click these pictures once they were finished. Next time I'm sure going to make a pictorial post for this....

What you need:

1. Milk - 1 1/2 litre
2. Thick curd - 1/2 cup
3. Sugar - 1 cup (cooking the rasgullas) + 2 cups (for soaking the rasgullas)
4. Muslin cloth

How to go about it:

1. In a pan, pour the milk and bring it to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, add the curd and let it stand for a few minutes. You would see the whey separating from the milk. 
2. Once separate, filter this through a muslin cloth. Wash the paneer through running water for few minutes. Squeeze out excess water and tie the cloth tightly and hang this for exactly 20 minutes - 30 minutes and not more than that.
3. Now, take out the paneer. The paneer you could see would be crumbly and yet will have little moisture in it. 
4. Transfer it in a bowl and knead the paneer until your hands get sticky (fat from the paneer) It will take approximately 5 - 7 minutes. After kneading the paneer will form into a ball on its own.
5. In a big pan, add 1 cup of sugar along with 4 cups of water and bring it to a rolling boil. 
6. Roll out small balls and add these to the boiling water and cover and cook them. The paneer balls would turn big in a few minutes. Keep them covered and cook them. 
7. After about 12 minutes take one ball and add it to clean water in a container. If the ball sinks then the rasgullas are cooked. If they are floating then cook them for few more minutes.
8. Once cooked, transfer the rasgullas to a bowl of clean cold water. This is to stop the cooking process.
9. Now in another heavy bottomed pan add 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water. Let it boil and let it be for atleast 10 minutes. This is the sugar syrup to soak the rasgullas.
10. Cool the sugar syrup completely. 
11. Now squeeze each rasgulla and add them to the sugar syrup. Let them soak for at least 4 - 5 hours. 
12. Rasgullas are ready to serve.

Troubleshooting:

1. If you are not able curdle the milk with curd then add about 3 - 4 tbsp of lemon juice. But wash the paneer for at least 10 minutes so that the lemony smell is off the paneer. 
2. Do not let the paneer stay more than the said time.

Njoy with your luved ones...

Luv...

Champa...