Rasgulla & Rasmalai

Two lovely desserts in one :)

Rasagulla
Ingredients (makes 15 small rasagullas)
1 lt milk
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar
pinch of cardamom powder

Method
Sugar syrup
Add water and sugar to pressure cooker and allow the sugar to dissolve. Bring it to boil & add a pinch of cardamom powder.

Paneer balls
Boil milk in a heavy bottomed vessel. Once it’s boiled, slowly add the lemon juice. The milk will curdle and the whey will separate. Turn off flame. Leave aside for 3-4 minutes.
Drain the whey using a strainer line with cheesecloth or muslin cloth. Gather the four corners of the cloth and twist it gently and rinse under cold water to remove the sourness of the lemon juice. Tie the ends & hang it at a height to allow the whey from the chenna to drain completely. Leave aside for 30 minutes.
Remove the chenna onto a wide plate. Now knead it gently for 3-4 minutes, till there is no trace of moisture & is absolutely soft on touch. This is a very crucial step in the process of rasgulla making.
Make small smooth balls of the kneaded chenna. Ensure there are no cracks on the balls.
Add the paneer balls to boiling sugar syrup and close the pressure cooker.
After the pressure cooker starts steaming, turn the heat to medium and cook for about seven minutes.
Make sure the pressure cooker is large enough to accommodate the finished Rasgullas, as they will expand to about double in the volume while cooking in the syrup.
Close the heat and wait a few minutes before you open the pressure cooker. Pour cold water over the pressure cooker before opening.
Rasagullas should be little spongy. After rasgullas are refrigerated the sponginess will reduce and will be soft in texture.
Serve the Rasgullas chilled OR proceed to prepare rasmalai.

Rasmalai

Ingredients
15 small rasgullas, at room temp
1 cup sugar syrup (from the rasgullas)
3 cups milk
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp sliced pistachios
2 pinches of saffron, mixed few tbsp milk

Method
Boil the milk in a frying pan on medium heat until the milk reduce to about half.
Make sure to frequently stir the milk as the milk burns easily in bottom of the pan.
Add the sugar syrup and continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Add the cardamom powder, pistachios and saffron and combine. Boil for another 5 minutes.
Gently squeeze the rasgullas with a flat ladle such that it forms a patty shape and the syrup is drained out.
Add the flattened rasgullas into the thickened milk and cook on low flame for 5 minutes. They will absorb the sweet syrup and Rasmalai is ready. Turn off heat and cool.
Garnish with sliced almonds and pistachios.
Serve the Rasmalai chilled.

Tips

Make sure that paneer is freshly made.

You can use curd to separate milk & chenna, in that case you don’t have to wash paneer in water to remove sourness.