Nolen Gur-er Rasogolla

Machh, mishti and more… perhaps this is the most appropriate tagline for Bengalis J While machh (fish) and mishti (sweets) are the most indispensable items in any Bengali household, they don’t restrict themselves to these two things only. Most of them are great foodies and they can have anything… literally… if that tastes good. Yes, that is the only criterion and if it fulfils, Bengalis are up for everything on their plates.

I have posted some fish recipes here in the blog, but recently realized that there are not many sweet recipes. Actually, the reason is, when you are in Bengal, you don’t have to waste your energy in kitchen to get good sweets. There are plenty of varieties available in the market. When there are some world famous sweet chains, the local shops don’t disappoint you either. I am very fond of sweets since my very childhood and I inherited that from my grandma through my father. A whole day diet of mine can comprises of various sweets and only sweets and I am not tired or bore having them! But, after coming to Delhi, that was my one of the major disappointments. Here mostly the sweets are made of Khoya, not of chhena and you can find variety only in their shape, not in taste. Yes, definitely there are some good variety, like Kalakand, Milkcake etc., but that cannot satisfy a Bengali sweet lover like me. So, after coming here, I tried my hand in making sweets for the first time.

Now, when we are talking about Bengalis and sweets, Rasogolla must have the first row entry. Just imagine… a large Rasogolla in a bowl in your hand, you cut it into halves by a spoon, some sugar syrup comes out, you eat the first half, it melts in your mouth, then you have the second half, some more sugar syrup dropping from the corner of your lips, you smack it…. Oh what a lovely feeling that is! And when it is winter, and there is Nolen Gur-er Rasogolla (Rasogolla made in Date palm jaggery syrup instead of sugar syrup), you are in heaven.

Yes, Nolen Gur-er Rasogolla is indeed a pure bliss. I really have no words to describe it for them who haven’t tasted it ever. Only I can say that, that can be a sure cure for all your worries, it can sweep away all your depression, it can make you happy even during your most terrible mood swing phase J  In Delhi, it is almost impossible to get them handy. Of course, it is available in some of the “Bangali para” like in Chittaranjan Park, but you can never get that authentic taste. So, after several days of repentance, several evenings of cursing your own fate, finally after my husband had cried in Facebook over not having a single nolen gurer rasogolla in the season so far and the consolation extended by many of his friends, it became impossible for me to sit idle. I have always found it as an utter disgrace to let others show their pity on me. I rather prefer to alter my fate and situation. So, I was left with no other option but to try the Jaggery Rasogolla in my own kitchen.

Well, previously I have made the normal sugar syrup rasogolla once and it was a success. That gave me an extra boost up. And luckily I had some good quality Date Palm Jaggery in my stock. So, it was not a big deal as long as the initial confidence and the ingredients are concerned. All I needed is the motivation to go for it. And as long as I have Avishek, that is not a problem either. He is ready to cheer me up for everything and never let me lose my enthusiasm even after a failure. So I tried and they have come out nice.

No more jibber-jabber …let’s have a look at the recipe.

Preparation Time – 30 mins, Cooking Time – 15 mins, Yields – 20-22 Raogolla

Ingredients:

1.     Milk  –  2 lts (full cream or single toned, both will work fine)

2.     Lemon Juice –  6-8 tbsp

3.     Water – 5 cups

4.     Sugar  – 3/4 cup

5.     Date Palm Jaggery – 1 ½ cup

6.     Cardamom seed – 5-6 (optional)

Method:

First, prepare the chhana. For that, heat milk in a pot over medium flame. When it just comes to boil, add the lemon juice. Don’t add them completely at a time. Try adding it slowly so that you don’t overuse it. Stop adding the lemon juice just when the milk curdles completely and the whey is separated.

Immediately turn off the heat and remove the chhana in a muslin cloth. Wash it under running water to remove the lemon flavour from the chhana.

Tie the cloth up and hang it for 30 mins. As I was in a hurry, I placed some weight on the tied cloth and keep it for 15 mins. That helped in removing the excess water from the chhana faster.

Be careful not to make the chhana extra dry. That will cause your rasogollas also to come out dry.

Knead the chhana very well with your palm. This step is important. You need to knead it really well to have a smooth texture. Knead it until the fat of the chhana start to get released.

Make small round balls out of it. Keep in mind, the final rasogollas will be almost double in size and make the raw chhana balls accordingly. Make sure there is no crack on the surface of the balls.

In the meantime, heat water, sugar and jiggery in a large, deep, heavy bottom pan and bring it to boil. You may add the cardamom powder to it, if you want. Add the chhana balls in the boiling syrup one by one.

Make sure your pan is large and deep enough to accommodate the final rasogollas. If you feel that the all the expanded rasogollas will not fit in the pan, cook it in two batches.

After adding the chhana balls, cover the pan and boil it for 10 minutes in medium flame. Reduce the heat to low and keep them for another 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Remove the rasogollas and let it soak the syrup for a while.

And your rasogollas are ready!! I prefer it having chilled so I kept it in refrigerator overnight. However, the choice is yours.

Go… Grab them !!!