Rasgulla
By: Barnaby Dorfman
Published: Monday, February 8, 2010 - 6:20pm

Ingredients




2 quarts full cream milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
5 teaspoons flour
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons rose water

Preparation

1 Bring the milk to a boil over a medium heat. Stir occasionally to avoid burning. When the milk begins to boil, add the lemon juice and mix well. 2 When the curds begin to separate from the milk, turn off the fire and leave the milk aside for 10 minutes to let the curdling finish. 3 Strain the curds and wash it well under running water - to remove all the lemon juice. 4 Now put the curds in a cheesecloth and hang for 1 hour to completely drain all the liquid from it. 5 Put the drained cheese into a mixing bowl and begin to knead it. Continue till all the lumps are removed and the cheese is very smooth. 6 Sprinkle the flour over the cheese and work it into the cheese to mix thoroughly. 7 Mix the sugar and water in a pressure cooker and bring the mixture to a boil (without covering the pressure cooker). Make sure the cooker is large enough to accomodate the finished Rasgullas, as they will double their size while cooking. 8 While the sugar syrup boils, divide the dough into small marble-sized balls and roll between your palms until smooth. 9 Gently add the balls to the sugar syrup and cover the pressure cooker. Once the first whistle blows, wait another 8-10 minutes and then turn off the fire. 10 Release the steam from the pressure cooker and allow the Rasgullas to cool completely before touching them. 11 When cool, add the rose water and chill before serving.

About


The rasgulla is a very popular dessert from South Asia that owes it's origins to India's coastal state of Orissa in the east. During the chariot festival that is held in the holy city of Puri in Orissa, the rasgulla has been used as an offering to the female Hindu deity, Lakshmi for over 300 years. In the nineteenth century, the recipe was discovered and popularized by enterprising confectioners in Kolkata, whence it spread all across India. 
The rasgulla is considered to be South Asia's first "wet" cheese based desserts, and a precursor to many Oriya and Bengali delicacies, such as Chhenagaja, Chhenapoda, Kheersagar, Rasmalai.
A quick recipe for another Oriya dessert, the Kheersagar is to replace the water in Step 7 with unsweetened evaporated milk. Alternately, use a mixture of sweetened condensed milk and regular milk in equal proportions in place of sugar and water.

Comments:
dlorp

Can't beat the Oriyan rasgulla