Rasgulla

Happy Holi to all my friends who celebrate the festival of colors!

Growing up in India and spending the early part of my childhood in Delhi and Bangalore I was fortunate enough to play and enjoy Holi. I used to look forward to playing with my pichkari (water gun) and slathering friends and family with gulaal (colored powder). One of my favorite and unforgettable memories from those days was a Holi party my parents taking me to. My sister and I were super excited. I remember barely being able to contain my excitement as we reached the venue that as soon as the car door opened I was off running. The huge stereo speakers were blasting out Amitabh's Rang barse bhige chunar wali rang barse song and people were splashing colors and dancing to the tunes. Well, being in my heightened levels of excitement as I ran towards the center of the party hall I dint notice the water tank filled with colored water and guess what, yes, I tripped and fell right into it. I was literally drenched in color and my friends had a great laugh over it. I was not a happy camper anymore and the rest of the day my main objective was to lure my friends near the tank and trying to push them into it. Unfortunately I was not too successful but I must say, I did immerse my self well into the Holi spirit...

Let's celebrate Holi at LifeScoops with some Rasgulla. It is a traditional Indian sweet made of homemade cheese dumplings soaked in sugar syrup.

Rasgulla originated in the state Odisha (formerly known as Orissa) centuries ago. Soon it gained popularity in Bengal and has now become one of the most sought after sweets in India

Recipe mostly adapted from Manjula Aunty

Yields: 18- 20 Rasgullas
Ingredients
6 cups - Milk (full fat or at least 2%)
3 tablespoon- Lemon juice
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 cups water
1/4 Teaspoon - Cardamom
Cheese cloth
Pressure cooker

Granish (optional)
Pistachios
Saffron 
 
Directions

To make paneer/ chenna

• In a small bowl mix lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of water and keep it aside.
• Add milk to a sauce pan and allow it to boil. Keep stirring it to avoid the milk from burning
• When the milk come to a rolling boil, add the lemon juice mixture. You will notice that the milk will curdle and turn into cheese/paneer/chenna.
• Line a huge strainer with cheese cloth and strain the paneer from the whey
• Run cold water on the paneer and wrap it in a cheese cloth squeezing out water.
• Hang the cheese cloth or keep a heavy dish on paneer to drain out remaining water.
• Once the paneer is dry knead it for at least 5 minutes. You should have a pliable dough.
• Divide the paneer into 18-20 balls and roll in between your plams to make them smooth. (These balls will almost double their size during the cooking process)

To make Rasgulla

• Mix the sugar, water and cardamom powder in a pressure cooker and bring to a boil.
• Once the sugar syrup has thickened a little add the paneer balls carefully
• Close the pressure cooker and after the first whistle cook for about 8 minutes
• Take the pressure cooker off the heat and run cold water on it to stop the cooking process.
• Once the steam has died, open the cooker
• Refrigerate the Rasgulla's
• Serve chilled

Notes and Tips

• During the cooking process the Rasgulla's almost double their size so make sure you use a big pressure cooker. If you have a small one I recommend you cook them in batches.
• Use 2% or full fat milk