Rasgulla is an indian dessert where in Chenna (cheese balls) are cooked and soaked in sugar syrup. These are super spongy and juicy sweet delight. Rasgulla originates from the eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Having its origin in Orissa and Bengal it has variations in preparation and taste different in different places.
Chenna/paneer is a protein made by curling milk using lemon or vinegar. This cheena is then strained to dry up and mixed with sugar and cooked to make rasgullas. When we mix this chenna in reduced milk we can make another dessert like the Kalakand. Chenna is also popularly used for sandesh and chenna poda. Chenna/paneer kheer is another popular dessert.
Paneer is yet another versatile foods. A number of savoury dishes like the shahi paneer, saag paneer, Pinwheel paneer, paneer fried rice and so on can be widely made. Paneer is a great source of protein.
What are rasgullas?
Rasgullas are made from ball shaped dumplings made from Chenna (cottage cheese) , semolina and Sugar cooked with sugar or jaggery syrup until the sweetness permeates the dumplings to make it light, fluffy and juicy. These are known by various names like Rasagulla, Roshogolla, Rasagola, Rasbhari etc . It is extremely popular in most of the Indian traditions and festivals.
Some of my Traditional Indian dessert recipes are
How are rasgullas made?
– Rasgullas are made from Chenna made by curdling milk. (also known as paneer) and the balls made from this chenna are cooked in a sugar syrup to cook and make it fluffy and juicy.
Check out other paneer recipes on the blog
– The main challenge with rasgullas at home is making them soft and not chewy.
– This is no rocket science! It’s a super easy and simple procedure to follow.
– Always cook the rasgullas in a wide pan to allow room for the balls to grow in size, only then they cook well and open pores to allow sugar or jaggery syrup to penetrate.
Making Rasgullas has become our regular task now. My kids love to mould the balls with me. It’s so much fun for them to see the balls increase in size… they simply hog on it!!
Let’s check out the details of the recipe along with the step by step pictures.
Kesar Rasgulla/ Rasbahari
Ingredients
For the Chenna dough balls
- 1 litre whole milk or cow milk
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice/ plain vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp Rava/sooji Or cornflour
- 1 teaspoon sugar in the dough
For sugar syrup
- 4 cups water
- 1.5 cups sugar
- Saffron
- Cardamom
Or Jaggery syrup
- 2 cups powdered jaggery
- 3 cups water
Instructions
- Boil 1 litre full cream milk in a heavy bottom pan.
- When it comes to a complete boil simmer the flame to low and add lemon juice /vinegar and stir the milk until curdled. Add the lemon slowly and keep stirring.
- Once you see the water and the chenna separating switch off the flame and stop adding the lemon.
- Now line up a cheesecloth, a strainer and another pot to collect the water.
- Strain the chenna well on the cheese cloth and keep the strained water aside. It can be used as a stock in any other dish as it has a lot of nutrients. Now wash the chenna well under running cold water.
- Now rinse well and remove all the water from the chenna. Squeeze the muslin cloth well and dry the chenna. Keep it aside for 1/2 hour.
- Now in a plate take the chenna ball and start kneading it. Mash it well with your palms and make it soft until it starts loosening oil.
- At this stage add the semolina and sugar to the chenna and knead the dough well.
- Make portions to round balls, for the ball size of a small lemon. Knead each part soft and then roll small balls.These balls are going to increase in size when we cook it.*Remember to knead the dough well as it will protect the rasgullas from cracks.*
- In another pan boil sugar and water until one boil for the syrup. Add 1-2 cardamoms and a few saffron sticks. This will give a good colour to the rasgullas and the saffron flavour penetrates.
- Now gently add the balls in the boiling syrup and cover it. boil it on a low-medium flame for about 15-18 minutes.
- These balls are now turning big as they get cooked. If you feel they are crowded transfer them to a wider pan. It allows room for them to cook better.
- The rasgullas are ready and take them off the heat. (Refer Notes for TIP)Allow them to rest for some time with the syrup.
Notes
- Remove each rasgulla out from warm syrup and quickly dip them in iced cold water.
- This stops the cooking process and helps to retain the size of the rasgulla and not shrink.
- After 5 minutes again lightly squeeze them out of cold water and dip them in the syrup.
- They taste better when chilled. So refrigerate them with the syrup.
- You can use either corn flour or semolina for binding. Do not use excess the rasgullas will become hard.
- You cannot substitute rava/sooji or cornflour with maida. They might turn out too hard.
- Garnish them with Rose petals and serve.
Rasgullas in jaggery syrup
For the syrup add 2 cups of jaggery powder to 3 cups of water and boil it. Cook the Chenna balls in it covered for about 15-18 minutes. They might not look the same white in colour. but these are super healthy because of the jaggery.
Jaggery rasgullas are known as Nolen Gur rasgullas. They are high in protein , rich with iron and fibres.
Nutritional Value:
Rasgullas are a great source of protein as it’s made from chenna. They are high in carbohydrates with sugar. Weight watchers and health conscious can cook them in jaggery syrup.
Also check our other desserts on the links
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