Roshogolla | How to make Spongy Bengali Rasgulla

5 from 4 votes

Learn to make the basic Spongy Rasgulla Recipe with detailed tips and tricks. We make it with homemade chhana or paneer.

Course Sweets

Cuisine Bengali

Keyword Indian Sweet

By Cook Method Boiled

Occasion Diwali, Festival Meal

By Diet Protein Rich

Dish Type Paneer Dishes, Under 5 Ingredients

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings pieces

Calories 109kcal

Author Srivalli

Always use whole milk or full cream milk for best results.
I have used lemon, vineger and fermented whey water for making the paneer / chhana.
If using Lemon, ensure you run the cheese in water to remove the lemon taste.
If using fermented whey water, dilute it and use.
If using vinegar, again dilute with water and use in drops.
Once you boil the milk, remove the milk from fire, slowly add the curdling agent by drops, while you gently stir the milk to enhance the coagulation.
Do not boil the milk once you add the curdling agent, else you will end up having chewy rasgullas.
Once you get greenish liquid, it means all the cheese is formed.
Use a cheesecloth or a muslin cloth to gather the cheese.
Cover the vessel with the cloth and pour it over. Gather the cloth together, gently tie the mouth and let it drain. Do not press it down to drain the liquid yourself.
The drained chhana should be crumbly and still has some moisture. If the chhana is too dry, you won’t be able to get the balls hold the shape.
I left the chhana draining for 30 mins, while some advice to be left overnight, I found 30 mins worked out well for me.

For all Bengali Sweets, first important step is kneading the fresh chhana well.
It is even more important for sweets like the boiled Rasgullas or deep fried Pantuas types.
Once you have the excess whey drained, take the chhana on a plate or a board you have cleaned and pat dried. I took a wide bowl so that I could hold it with the left hand and knead with my right heel.
Start with rubbing the chhana with fingers to break down the cheese to further smaller size, gather again and continue this for 10 mins.
Then, start kneading with your heel and rub forward. This again takes about 10 mins. In total I must have spent some 30 to 40 mins, kneading the chhana of about 4 liters milk each batch.
When you feel the kneading is enough, pinch out a ball and roll between your palm, if you notice the ball being formed without a crack and you have a sheen of oil over, it’s done.
The ball has to be smooth and shiny.
Once this is done, you can use this basic rasgulla to make different sweets like Chanar Puli, Danadar, Ras Malai, Khirkadam etc.

The ratio of sugar to water is always 1:3 for a perfect sweet tasting Rasgulla. We do not want an overtly sweet ball here. However, if you want more sweet to your syrup, increase the sugar.
You can add spices like cardamom or cinnamon or rose water as per your taste. I used cardamon for most variety.

Rasgullas expand when it gets boiled. So always use a very wide vessel for the sugar syrup. Ensure the balls are not crowding in the pot. If this happens, the rasgullas become flat or lose its shape.
So make sure the pot you use to make the syrup and boil the balls are wide enough. The rasgullas double in size after getting cooked.
Choose a vessel with a lid that closes tightly over it.
Also, it is important that the balls do not come in contact with air, else it will deflate or not expand properly.

Remember that the rasgullas double after being cooked. So shape the balls accordingly. As I was making a huge batch with different recipes having different shapes, it was too cumbersome to maintain all these conditions. However, remember smaller ones tune double.

After ensuring you are using a wide vessel for boiling, make sure the pan comes to rolling boil and the sugar melts. We do not want a string syrup here, so have all your rasgullas shaped and ready by the time the water boils over.
When the water starts rolling boil, gently drop in the balls. Cover with lid.
Boil like this for 10 minutes. If the sugar-water solution is becoming thick, sprinkle some cold water on top. It should be sprinkled and not simply poured in, as that will bring the temperature down and stop the cooking process.
Switch off the flame, and allow to cool naturally. Don’t stir, move or touch the vessel until the Rossogollas have cooled!

While it is said that the balls coming in contact with air, will deflate the shape, may use the technique of dropping the balls in a cup of water. If the ball sinks, it is done. If it floats, boil for a couple of minutes and check again.
I simply cooked for 10 mins on high flame, left it uninterrupted for 30 mins or so.

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