Rose and saffron flavoured rasgullas
Delicious, spongy, soft rasgullas flavored with rose and saffron that are perfect for festivals and sweet treats. This recipe makes making this Bengali sweet at home easy peasy
Ingredients
- 1 litre whole milk
- 2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 pods cardamom crushed
- 6 cups water
For the rose flavoured rasgullas
- 1/2 tsp red food colour optional, for a light pink colour
- 3 tsp rose water
- 1 tsp kewra water
- 1 tbsp dried rose petals for garnish
For the saffron flavoured rasgullas
- 1 tsp saffron strands
Instructions
To male the rose flavoured rasgullas
- Set a pan with the milk to boil
- When it starts bubbling, add the lemon juice gradually and keep stirring. Turn off the flame. You will gradually see the milk curdle and the whey separate
- Drain this over a muslin or a thin cloth and rinse with water - this is the chaena. Tie the cloth and hang it so that the remaining water drains off. Make sure there isn't water in the chaena. If there remains any water, the balls won't hold shape while cooking
- Transfer the chaena to another bowl and add the food colour (if using). If you are making the traditional, non-flavored rasgulla, do not add any colour to the chaena
- Knead it for 10 minutes by flattening and then gathering it, until smooth
- You should get a smooth, crack-free dough
- Now roll them into lime sized balls and keep covered
- For the sugar syrup, add the sugar, rose water and kewra water along with the water to a pot, and heat. If making the traditional sweet, only add cardamom pods to the sugar syrup
- When it comes to a roll boil (around 15 mins), add the chaena balls and cover it. Cook them, over medium high heat, for another 12-15 minutes
- By this time, they would have doubled up in size. Turn the flame off and let the pot (with the rasgullas) cool down. Do not open the lid until the pot is cooled. Thereafter, remove and serve
For the saffron rasgullas
- Boil the milk with a few saffron strands and follow the same process to make the chaena, as above
- Once your chaena is ready, knead to form a crack free dough
- And pinch out equal sized balls out of it to make the rasgullas. Since the saffron would have already lent it's colour to the chaena, do not add other food colour (like above, if using)
- ..and while making the sugar syrup, add the cardamom pods and some saffron stands
Serving
- Garnish the saffron flavoured rasgullas with some strands and the rose flavoured ones with dried rose petals
- Extra tip! The test of a perfect, spongy rasgulla is, it should spring back to its spherical shape even after being squeezed. You can do this is step 9, before turning the gas off, to check if your rasgullas are cooked through. If not, continue cooking for another 10 minutes
Notes
- A litre of milk, yielded 12 rasgullas for me
- You can increase or decrease the amount of sugar added to make the syrup as per your taste
- Only when the rasgullas are spongy, they will absorb the sweetness from the sugar syrup
- tbsp - tablespoon
- tsp - teaspoon