Rasgulla / syrupy cheese balls

Rasgulla is a Soft, spongy balls of cottage cheese soaked in sugar syrup.served chilled , dessert popular in the Indian subcontinent , particularly in the Indian states of Odisha and West Bengal.

What you need is simple

2 litres of whole milk
2.5 cups (250ml) of sugar + 1 tablespoonful of powder sugar .
1.5 tbsp semolina
7 to 8 crushed green cardamom

Lemon juice , now the amount of juice would depend on the size of lemons. I required about 2 of them
7 cups of water

Start by bringing the milk to a boil and adding the juice of 2 lemons bit by bit and keeping the juice of 2 lemons handy in case you need them. This way you don’t end up using more lemon than required. Once you see the clear green whey having completely separated to form the white cheese simmer for 5 minutes and then cover and keep for 8 minutes. Wash it well with water to remove the lemony smell.

Now use a cheesecloth or muslin cloth to drain the whey completely but do not drain it for more than 10 to 14 minutes else it becomes too hard to be worked with.

To check if enough water is out of the paneer, take a little piece of paneer on your palm and rub with your fingers. After rubbing the paneer for about 15-20 seconds, you should be able to make a firm but smooth ball.

Add semolina and ground sugar and mix with your hands and then knead well with the palm of your hands till it becomes extra soft and smooth and you can feel the fat on your hands. ( I used food processor with dough blade ) Knead for 10 minutes to 15 minutes and Once everything comes together to a smooth pilable dough, form them into smooth mini/normal lemon sized balls and keep aside. I made around 13-15 mini balls.

Add cardamom to 2 cups of sugar and mix with 6 cups of water and 2 tsp lemon and make a thin syrup. Simmer and add the balls and then cover and cook for 45 minutes. Remember to sprinkle warm water every 15 minutes. Rosogollas must be sprinkled with water else they turn out very hard. Remember to check constantly so that the syrup doesn’t boil over and spill all over the kitchen counter for which you need to lower and higher the temperature constantly. After 45 minutes you have your beautiful Rasgullas .

Note:
When cool, pour the rose water or saffron syrup (made by soaking the saffron strands in a little warm water) on the Rasgullas and chill for a few hours before serving.( optional )

Using lemon when making the syrup helps prevent crystallization
Sprinkling water every 15 minutes yields extra soft rosogollas