Rasagolla is a very common dessert dish of north-east India, especially for the state of West-Bengal. These white, soft, spongy balls are made of cottage cheese (paneer) soaked in chilled sugar syrup enriched some time with almond (baadam) flakes. The preparation starts with making the chenna (the crumbly and moist form of cottage cheese ), as the paneer we can get from the shop will not be soft enough to make the rasagulla.Ingredients
- Milk : 4 cups
- Lemon juice : 1 ½ Tbl sp
- Water 1Tbl sp
For Syrup:
- Sugar : 1 cup
- Water : 3 cups
- Cardamom powder : ¼ T sp.
Method
- Mix the lemon juice with 1 Tbl sp of water.
- Boil the milk in a pan.
- Once it started boiling, add the lemon juice and stir it properly.
- Stir it until the whey water clears and the milk completely curdles.
- Then add some ice cubes and take it from the stove.
- In a strainer keep a cloth and pour the curdled milk .
- Once the chenna (so is called the panneer lump) trapped in the cloth, rinse it in cold water about 3-4 times to get rid of the smell and taste of the lemon,
- Squeeze it well and tie a knot on the cloth and hang it for 30-45 minutes.
- Then take the chenna and keep it in a bowl and knead it well until it becomes a smooth and pliable dough.
- Now make lemon sized balls out of this dough ( I got around 11 balls).
- In a wide pan add the sugar, cardamom powder and 3 cups of water and let it boil.
- Stir in between until the sugar dissolves completely.
- Once it boiled and started getting bubbles, add the balls one by one carefully and close the lid and cook it about 12 to 14 minutes, checking it in 2-3 times in between.
- Once it is cooked the size of the balls should be almost double.
- Keep it in the fridge and serve chilled.
Tips:-
- Make sure to have the balls made firm, without any cracks or it may disintegrate in the syrup
- While serving, handle the balls gently to avoid breakage
