Rasgullas ( Bengali Sweet )

I am very very happy to post this recipe of rasgullas today. Because after many attempts of trial and error I finally managed to make these spongy rasgullas exactly the way I love them.

 Actually I am a die hard fan of bengali sweets . And rasgullas being the base of many bengali sweets like chum chum, rasmalai , malai sandwich etc wanted to make them desperately.

For this recipe I surfed the net and went through  so many different  recipes with so many tips . Then finally gathered all the information and gave it a try once again keeping my fingers crossed this time and here I was with these soft juicy cuties.

 I have given each step in detail keeping in mind all my failed attempts. Hope the tips and details help you all and you succeed in making them in the first attempt itself.

Sending this entry to Viji's    sys-w-series-december  where my ingredient for this month is sugar .

Also sending it for lets-brunch-on-sundays-event by priya and veena  as they are a perfect low calorie dessert for sundays.

Ingredients :

1 litre ......................full fat cow's milk
1/2 tsp......................citric acid ( can use 2 tbsp lemon juice instead )
1 cup ...................sugar
4 cups ................water
1/2 tsp................cardamom powder
2 to 3 drops ......rose essence ( optional)

Method :

Dissolve the citric acid crystals in 1/4 cup water.

Boil the milk and when it starts boiling add the citric acid solution 1 spoon at a time.

After adding each spoon stir the milk properly.

When the milk starts curdling immediately stop adding the citric acid solution.





It hardly took me 2 spoons of diluted citric acid solution for the milk to curdle.

Switch off the gas and immediately add lots of ice cube in the vessel. (15 to 20 )

This brings down the temperature of milk immiediately  and  stops the further curdling .






This makes the rasgullas spongy and prevents them from becoming rubbery on cooling .

Now take a muslin cloth and pour this curdled mixture in it along with ice cubes.

Let the water drain out and also wash the mixture thoroughly with fresh cold water.






This removes the sourness of citric acid or lemon juice if any.

Now tie the muslin cloth and hang it for 2 hours to drain out all the water.

Take the curdled mixture which now should resemble a white soft ball .






Knead it with your hands for almost 8 to 10 minutes till it becomes very soft.

The mixture should become soft and fluffy like butter.

This is again very important for the sponginess .






Now make small balls of the mixture ensuring that there are no cracks.







Take sugar ,water and cardamom powder in a pressure cooker and let it boil.

When the water starts boiling add the balls very gently and pressure cook the rasgullas for 1 whistle.







Let the pressure drop by itself and then only open the cooker.

The rasgullas would have swollen to almost double the size.







Take them in a vessel add rose essence and chill them till you serve.