Homemade Rasgulla / Roshogulla

Bengali Mithai are the most loved Indian sweets. My family loves Bengali Rashogulla. Till date, I used to bring those canned Rasgullas. But nowadays, we love homemade Roshogullas made of fresh paneer. Though, a little time consuming, these sweet, soft paneer balls are worth the effort. Try this in your kitchen and find out for yourself.

Ingredients:
Whole Milk - 6 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 4 cups
Lemon Juice - 2 1/2 tbsp
Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods
Saffron/Kesar - few strands
Pistachios/Pista - 2 (optional)

How to cook Bengali Rasgulla:

• Heat milk in a thick bottom vessel. Keep stirring after every 5 minutes. When milk starts boiling, add lemon juice gradually and stir at the same time. Turn off the heat and curdling of milk will take a minute. Let it rest for about 10 minutes.
• Make arrangements for a sieve/strainer lined with a thin cotton cloth, to separate the milk solids/paneer/chenna and clear liquid/whey. I generally use 4 layers of thin cloth. Pour the curdled milk in the cloth lined sieve and rinse the paneer with cold water to wash off the lemon juice.
• When it turns cold enough to handle, gather the edges of the cloth and squeeze with hands to remove whey from paneer. Wrap the paneer in the same cloth and place heavy weight on it for about 30 minutes. Alternatively, paneer can be hung as well to get rid of the excess whey.

• Knead the paneer well for about 5 minutes. Divide the paneer/chenna into 20 equal parts. Roll each one between your palms to form a smooth round ball.
• Crush the cardamom seeds and/or saffron in a mortar pestle to a fine powder. You can use rose water/gulab jal as well.
• Heat 4 cups water in a big vessel and add sugar. When water starts boiling, add cardamom powder and saffron. Stir and carefully add paneer balls to the boiling hot water. After cooking, the paneer balls will increase to almost double the size, make sure the vessel is big enough. Cook for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the paneer balls double in size, turn soft and spongy.

After rasgullas cool down, refrigerate for about an hour. Rasgulla tastes best when chilled. Garnish Rashogullas with crushed pistachios or any other nuts of your choice.