Rasgulla

Ingredients

Milk: 1 litre

Lemon juice: ¼ cup

Sugar: 2 cups

Water: 4 cups

Cardamom powder: ½ tsp

Cooked Rasgullas

Paneer

Method

First prepare the paneer. For that boil milk in a thick bottomed pan and bring it to a boil. Mix lemon juice in half cup of water and add it to the boiling milk stirring the milk gently. The milk curdles and will start separating from the whey. Once the milk water looks pale green, remove from the heat and drain it using a strainer with muslin cloth. 

Wrap the muslin cloth and rinse well in cold water so that the lemon smell goes out from the paneer. Squeeze the cloth thoroughly to remove excess water. You can keep the wrapped paneer under a heavy object for about an hour, but this can remove all water and paneer can become little hard. 

After removing water from the paneer, take a pinch of it on your palm and rub with your finger for about 10 seconds and see if you are able to make a firm, but a smooth ball. After removing all the excess water, place the paneer on a dry clean surface and knead it well for 5-6 minutes. This helps to smoothen the paneer like soft dough. If the paneer is too crumbly, you can add half a tablespoon of water. Now the paneer is ready for rasgullas.

Prepare small and smooth balls of equal size. I prepare 15 balls of equal size. While preparing these balls apply some pressure in the beginning and release the pressure when forming the balls. The size can be of desired ones as the cooked rasgullas will double in size.

Mix sugar and water in a large pressure cooker and bring it to a boil on a medium high flame. Add the paneer balls and close the lid. Do not cover the whistle. When the cooker starts steaming, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 7-8 minutes. 

Remove from the flame and wait for 4-5 minutes before opening the lid. Add cardamom powder and stir gently before transferring them to a bowl. Cooked rasgullas should be spongy. Refrigerate them before serving. Chilled rasgullas will have soft texture and be less spongy.