A bite into a soft and juicy rajbhog is irrestible. Rajbhogs are rasgullas which are slightly bigger and with a stuffing of saffron and nuts inside. This further enhances its taste.
Having originated in Bengal, it is now available everywhere and has attained the status of one of the important Indian sweets. The markets are now flooded with canned rajbhogs but there is a huge satisfaction in seeing paneer roundels puff in front of your eyes. My husband's face lights up on seeing them!
With Diwali next week, surprise everyone with home made rajbhogs. So, go ahead and try...
A VERY HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND READERS
Ingredients:
1 liter whole milk, made into paneer, see post Making paneer
yellow color, if desired
sugar syrup:
2 cups sugar
4 cups water
for filling:
a little amount of paneer
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
3-4 chopped almonds
5-6 pistachios, crushed roughly
1/8 tsp nutmeg
a pinch of mace
few strands of saffron
12 sugar candy or elaichi dana
Method:
I am skipping the method of making paneer in this post. So, after the milk has been separated, transfer to a cheese cloth to remove excess water.
Rinse the paneer so that no traces of vinegar or souring agent remain.
Squeeze and remove extra water.
Transfer to a plate...
Mash to crumble it....
Now, you need to make it into a soft homogenous dough.
Knead the dough with the heels of your palms, keep on kneading and kneading, phewww :(
Or, put it in a blender and grrrrhhh.......
the dough is soft and smooth...
Meanwhile, in a pressure cooker, put the sugar syrup to boil. Add one or two cardamoms if desired.
Divide the dough into portions, I was able to make 12 paneer balls. Add yellow color if you want to. I refrain from adding artificial colors, so add a little bit of turmeric powder. No, don't be alarmed, you will not get the taste of turmeric !
The amount of paneer depends on the quality of milk.
To a small amount of paneer, add the ingredients listed under filling.
Divide into 12 portions...
Take one paneer roundel, make a dent and put the filling inside along with a sugar candy.
Roll and make smooth round balls.
The syrup would by now be boiling....
Drop few paneer balls in the boiling sugar syrup.
Add enough paneer balls and cover with lid along with the pressure guage.
Enjoy :)
My notes:
Remember, that the paneer balls puff up while cooking so, do no't overcrowd them or else they would stick to each other.
I do not add any binding agent to paneer, but this is optional.
In case you want to add the binding agent to the paneer dough, add 1/2 tsp of sooji/semolina and 1/2 tsp of all purpose flour.
These can be made in a saucepan also, but for this, remember to add few tablespoons of water in between cooking as the sugar becomes thick.
The cooking time would be increased to 10 minutes with this method.
Having originated in Bengal, it is now available everywhere and has attained the status of one of the important Indian sweets. The markets are now flooded with canned rajbhogs but there is a huge satisfaction in seeing paneer roundels puff in front of your eyes. My husband's face lights up on seeing them!
With Diwali next week, surprise everyone with home made rajbhogs. So, go ahead and try...
A VERY HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND READERS
1 liter whole milk, made into paneer, see post Making paneer
yellow color, if desired
sugar syrup:
2 cups sugar
4 cups water
for filling:
a little amount of paneer
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
3-4 chopped almonds
5-6 pistachios, crushed roughly
1/8 tsp nutmeg
a pinch of mace
few strands of saffron
12 sugar candy or elaichi dana
Method:
I am skipping the method of making paneer in this post. So, after the milk has been separated, transfer to a cheese cloth to remove excess water.
Rinse the paneer so that no traces of vinegar or souring agent remain.
Squeeze and remove extra water.
 |
| Squeeze to remove water |
Knead the dough with the heels of your palms, keep on kneading and kneading, phewww :(
The amount of paneer depends on the quality of milk.
Roll and make smooth round balls.
As soon as the pressure cooker starts hissing, lower the heat to minimum.
Simmer for 5 minutes. Switch off the heat and let the pressure drop by itself.
Open the lid and yell with surprise......
Simmer for 5 minutes. Switch off the heat and let the pressure drop by itself.
Transfer to a serving dish. Chill and serve.
Enjoy :)
My notes:
Remember, that the paneer balls puff up while cooking so, do no't overcrowd them or else they would stick to each other.
I do not add any binding agent to paneer, but this is optional.
In case you want to add the binding agent to the paneer dough, add 1/2 tsp of sooji/semolina and 1/2 tsp of all purpose flour.
These can be made in a saucepan also, but for this, remember to add few tablespoons of water in between cooking as the sugar becomes thick.
The cooking time would be increased to 10 minutes with this method.
A Happy Diwali to you and your family
ReplyDeleteReading your blog it sounds easy , I thought it would be really hard ,well if it becomes a pancake I shall use it for ras malai
Try, it really is not difficult. Just make sure that the texture of paneer is right and then your rasgullas are bound to be good :)
ReplyDelete