Rasgulla

Belated Diwali wishes. I love diwali season because of the enthusiasm filled in everyone to decorate their houses with lights. Even the shops are decorated with lights - different types and in different colours. They look amazing. Every weekend and sometimes on weekdays too, we have a walk outside. The streets are pretty busy irrespective of whichever day we choose to go out for the walk. The chaat walas, balloon vendors, vegetable vendors etc. make sure that the street is always lively. My main attraction amongst them is the Halwai/ sweet shop vendors. It would be very unusual if we don't stop by the sweet shops. They even know how to make sure that we stop by, even if we were not intending to.

The other day, we were double minded if we should get some sweets, since we were feeling guilty of having them on a regular basis. And by the time we passed by the sweet shop, the vendor called out, Jalebi garmagaram , meaning Hot Jalebis. Oh god, this is called temptation. We were trying to control ourselves and there we let go our control over those two words that guy called out and fell for it.


I am sure you too would have gone sugar high having different sweets, this Diwali season. I just can't say no to them. Infact, if we at a buffet, my main attraction would be the dessert bar. I can proudly say that Jacob is also slowly joining the gang and developing a sweet tooth.

Today's recipe is Rasgulla. Should I say more about this highly addictive, sweet and juicy milk fudge balls. Infact, I should just stop explaining about it to prevent any scene of saliva dripping down while I speak ... he he...

Happy Diwali everyone. Have a safe one. And do not forget to try these Rasgullas at home. Because nothing beats the taste and happiness of having homemade sweets.

Ingredients

1. 1 litre full fat milk
2. 1 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice/vinegar
3. 3 1/2 cups of water
4. 2 cups of sugar
5. Cold water as required
6. 1/4 tsp of cardamom powder
7. Nuts for garnishing

Method

• In a pan, heat the milk. Once it begins to boil, add the lemon juice/ vinegar. Simmer the heat and stir it untill the whey separates completely.
• Strain out the chenna on to a muslin cloth placed on a strainer. Rinse the chenna with cold water. It would prevent further cooking of chenna and also make it moist so that they don't dry off but remain soft.
• Tie the chenna in the muslin cloth. Press out excess water from it. Let it hang for about half an hour to remove the water from the chenna.
• Now remove the chenna from the muslin cloth and knead it well for about 5-10 minutes. The earlier crumbled chenna would now come together into one smooth and soft ball. Pinch out small portions of chenna and roll it out into small balls. The balls would get doubled in size once cooked. So you would want to roll out the balls in half the size of the rasgullas that you are looking forward to making.
• Once you have made the balls, take the sugar and water in a pan, wide enough for all the rasgullas to float. Heat it untill the sugar dissolves and starts boiling. Add the cardamom powder and give it a stir. Add the balls to it and cook it on full heat for about a couple of minutes. Simmer down the heat and let it cook.  Ensure to lift the lid and release the water vapour every now and then. Cook it untill the rasgullas double in size, which may take about 10-15 minutes.
• Check the syrup for sweetness. If you want it more sweet and thick, remove the rasgullas on to a bowl of normal water. Keep the pan open and let the syrup boil for some more time, while you stir it now and then, untill it is a little thick and more sweet. Add back the rasgullas, to the syrup, having squeezed out the water from it.
• Let the rasgullas cool down completely. Place them in the refrigerator to chill. Garnish it with chopped nuts and saffron. Serve it chilled. 

Tips

1. You could cook the rasgullas in pressure cooker too. For that, after adding in the rasgullas, to the sugar syrup, place the lid and weight. Let it whistle once on high heat. Switch off the heat and wait for the pressure to release. Remove the lid. Rasgullas should have doubled in size by now. Check the syrup for the consistency and sweetness. If you think the rasgullas need to be cooked a bit more and the syrup needs to be a bit more thicker and sweeter, then cook it for few minutes. However, do not thicken the syrup too much. Eyeball it to attain the right consistency.
2. Do not over cook the rasgullas, else they would loose its shape.