Bandana's Kitchen: RASGULLA

Preparation of RASGULLA:

Ingredients:

For Rasgulla:

For the Chenna :

For the Sugar Syrup:

Method:

For the Chenna:

Melt the citric acid in ½ cup of water and keep aside.
Keep the milk to boil in a pan, and keep on stirring continuously.
Take out from the fire and mix for at least 5 to 7 minutes till the milk is slightly cool.
Put the citric acid solution and stir the milk gently.
The milk will curdle and they whey will separate. The whey has to be clear thus indicating the milk has completely curdled.
Keep it to rest for 3 to 4 minutes.
Strain out all the whey using a clean damp muslin cloth.
Fold all the 4 sides of the muslin cloth and twist it gently so that all the whey that is the milk solids gets evenly drained out.
Gather the cloth from all 4 sides and squeeze the chenna lightly about 3 to 4 times so that most of the whey gets drained out.
Keep the chenna on a clean plate and knead gently so that it is free of lumps and take care not to apply too much. Pressure while kneading the chenna.
It is advisable to use this almost immediately.

For The Rasgullas :

Divide the chenna into 16 equals parts and roll each part into a ball.
Take care to see that the there are no cracks on the surface.
Dust the back of a thali lightly with the flour and keep the rolled chenna balls on it.
For the Sugar Syrup :
Mix the sugar and milk with 3 cups of water in a large pan approx. 200 mm. (8") in diameter and 150 mm (6") in height and heat while stirring continuously till the sugar dissolves.
When the syrup starts boiling, the impurities in the sugar will begin to float on the surface, forming a grey layer.
Heat over a medium flame to make the grey layer to float.
Do not stir at this point as the layer will break and it will not clarify the syrup.
After about 5 minutes, slowly drizzle 1 cup of water from the sides of the pan with the help of a ladle.
Water added at this stage will bring down the temperature of the sugar syrup and will not allow it to boil and break the grey layer.
Keep on boiling the syrup over a medium flame for 10 minutes and then gently take out the grey layer using a slotted spoon.
Keep the syrup to boil once again and then slowly drizzle another cup of water from the sides of the pan using a ladle.
Remove all the remaining impurities from the syrup, again using a slotted spoon.
Increase the flame and boil vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes. Keep aside.

How to Proceed:

Combine 2 tsp of the maida with ¾ cup of water to make a flour solution. Keep aside.
Heat the sugar syrup in a deep pan over a high flame and boil vigorously.
When it boils, sprinkle half the flour solution in the sugar syrup and then put the chenna balls by upturning the plate on which they are kept.
When the flour solution is added, a frothy layer is formed on the surface of the syrup.
If the frothy layer begins to subside, sprinkle the remaining half portion of the flour solution.
After this, keep on sprinkling water (minimum 1 cup) on the surface of the sugar syrup.
Make sure that the syrup froths all the time while cooking the rasgullas.
Cook for about 15 minutes, continuously sprinkling water to enable the froth to form.
Check if the rasgullas are cooked. To check that the rasgullas are cooked, drop a rasgulla in a pan of cold water. If it sinks to the bottom, it is cooked.
Take out from the fire.
Shift the rasgullas to a bowl along with 2 ladles of sugar syrup and 1 cup of water.
Cool and chill for at least 3 to 4 hours before serving

Bandana's Kitchen