Rasgulla/Rasagolla/Roshogolla

Well, different people call it differently and yet we know exactly what they are talking about, isin't it? Everyone relishes this bengali/oriya dish. There is still an argument as to where this dish originated from. Is it the west bengal or orissa? Many people believe that it was actually made by the oriya brahmins, who were supposed to be excellent cooks. These brahmins were hired by rich bengali households to cook for them. And it is from these cooks the west bengal tasted the roshogullas from. Well, I really don't care which state it came from. All I know is that it feels like heaven when you pop one of these into your mouth.This recipe is inspired from a video of vahrevah.com or the vah chef himself. I used his rasmalai video link, click on the link to have a look. The chef talks too much, but his recipes are great :). But remember, instead of flattening the chenna, you need to make round balls.

Difference between paneer and chenna? We make both of them from the same method. But from what I understand, chenna is moist, spongy and crumbly, while paneer is firm and soft (usually has a smooth texture). If you know any more info than I know, please do enlighten me.
Ingredients:-
4 cups of milk
1 cup of sugar
6 glasses of water
2-3 tbl spns of vinegar diluted in 3 tbl spns of water (you may use lime juice too)
2 cardamom, seeds crushed in a mortar.
1 tsp of Crushed almonds/pistachios to garnish
1 tsp rose essence

Method:-

Boil the milk as you keep on stirring at medium flame.

Add the vinegar mixture to break down the fat. Once you see the chenna separate, leaving a greenish looking liquid (or clear liquid). Immediately strain it using a muslin cloth. Be careful, it will very hot. [you may also through in some cubes of ice if you think you can't run to strain with a heavy pan quick enough. The ice stops the process of curdling. If the milk curdle's too much then the chenna becomes hard].

Wash this chenna well with cold water to get rid of the vinegar essence.

Once all the water is strained, tie the muslin cloth to a tap and leave it for around 30 -40 minutes. This will ensure all the water drains out of the chenna, leaving it dry and easy to knead.

Take out the chenna from the cloth slowly and knead it to a soft dough. This takes around 15 minutes. You need to do this step well and patiently to ensure that the chenna can be made into smooth balls.

Make half the size of the final size of the rasgulla you want. Make sure each ball is round and smooth. Mean while, heat the sugar, cardamom, rose essence and water and let it come to a boil (heat should be at high)

Once the water is steaming and boiling, add the chenna balls inside (if they are not boiling, the chenna balls will break/will not puff up).Close the pan with a tight lid for 10-12 minutes. If you don't have a pan with a proper tight lid, you may do the same thing in a pressure cooker. Keep it for one whistle. Take out from the heat and wait for 5 minutes. Open the cooker after 5 mins.

The picture below shows the pan I used to make the rasgullas. It has a tight lid with a small hole for the extra steam to escape. The below picture is taken from http://www.onthehob.co.uk/product-type/cookware/tefal-compact-enamel-pan-set-3-piece/

You will see that the chenna balls have doubled in size and are spongy. Fish out the rasgullas and enough water to submerge the rasgullas (this sugar syrup should be thin. Similar to the viscosity of water). Refrigerate it for around an hour.

Serve cold with garnished almonds/pistachios.

Day before was the first official day of fall. So happy fall and navrathri.

This is my contribution to EC's WFY Festive Treat Event. I am sending my Shahi Tukra too.