Double Treat- Rasgulla and Rasmallai

Rasgullas when I hear this word my mouth waters and it always bring back my memories with bengalis during my childhood days. I have only eaten this sweet in either bengali homes or in homes where my friends parents had east indian origin. Rasgullas literally means juicy balls....I know it sounds corny...but if u can excuse the people who named this sweetmeat I guess it is one of the delicious sweets you will ever eat. My mom who is a superb cook has never made it herself. This led me to the belief that it very difficult to make. But as I tried it a few times to figure out the correct recipe it is one of the simplest recipes I have ever made. Rasmalai is simple variation of normal rasgullas. The only difference is that in rasgullas the cheese balls dipped sugar syrup but in rasmalai it is dipped in sweetened milk.

Ingredients:

For Gullas:

1. 1/2 liter full fat milk( to make cheena or cottage cheese).
2. 2 tbsp white vinegar.

For Sugar Syrup:

1. 2 cups of Sugar.
2. 4 cups of water.
3. 2-3 drops of rose essence(may exclude this if you don't like the smell).

For Sweetened Milk:

1. 2 cups of Milk.
2. 1 tin (14 oz.) condensed milk.

Preparing Gullas or Cheese Balls:

1. boil the 1/2 liter full fat milk.
2. when the milk comes to boil , remove from flame and add the 2 tbsp of white vinegar to the milk to curdle it.
3. Cook for about 15 minutes maintaining the temperature at 185ºF. Higher temperature will make it cheese hard and rubbery like Paneer. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool for five minutes.
   
4. Line a colander with fine cheesecloth or I use a large handkerchief (clean one). Transfer the contents into the lined colander. Now use the four ends of the handkerchief to make knots and hand it some place to drain the liquid for an hour.
5. now open the knotts and remove the drained cheese lump.
6. kneed this lump in a wok for five minutes into a smoother and finer lump.
7. Make balls of cheese of the desired size of rasgullas.

Preparing Sugar Syrup:

1. Mix 4 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in a bowl.
2. Bring it boil and keep boilling for 15 min to make a thin sugar syrup.

Finishing Touches to Rasgullas:

1. Add the cheese balls to the boilling sugar syrup.
2. Cover the bowl with a perforated plate and allow the cheese balls to pressure cook at this same temperature in the boiling syrup for 10-15 minutes.
3. Remove the bowl from fire and allow it to cool for 10 mintues. Add the 2-3 drops of rose essence to the syrup.
4. Refrigerate and serve the dessert on any occasion.
   

For sweetened milk :

1. Mix the milk and condensed milk together.
2. Boil the mixture for about 5 minutes.
   

Finishing Touches to Rasmalai:

1. Bring about 4 cups water to boil .
2. Add the cheese balls to the boilling water.
3. Cover the bowl with a perforated plate and allow the cheese balls to pressure cook at this same temperature in the boiling water for 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove the bowl from fire and allow it to cool for 10 mintues.
   
5. Remove the cooked cheese balls from the water and squeeze them to remove water in them.
6. Now add these cooked cheese balls to the sweetened milk and cook them for about 10 minutes.
7. allow the mixture to cool and Refrigerate the rasmalai before serving.
   
8. To decorate you can add chopped up almonds and pistachios.