Spongy Syrupy Rasgullas are heaven. Rasgulla also known as roshogolla is one of the most popular Indian dessert specially in Bengali cuisine. You can make them easily at home with ingredients which you already have on hand. Perfect dessert to brighten up your Diwali or any festive occasions. Also it is quite forgiving dessert, Don’t worry if your rasgullas are not perfect, you can always use them in rasmalai and chum chum. Learn how to make the perfect bengali rasgulla with step by step pictures, tips, tricks, trouble shooting and video.
Bengali Rasgulla
Rasgulla one of the famous sweet and many of us favorite sweet in the world. It is a sweet which is made with milk chenna which is then shaped into balls and then these balls are boiled in sugar syrup, so the syrup seeps into the balls and make it super spongy and juicy.
To be frank, I am not a big fan of rasgulla. I like them in rasmalai. I have already shared recipe for rasmalai. In this blog post I am sharing recipe of rasgulla that is made in a cooking pot, pressure cooker and instant pot. Hope this will be useful for many.
What is Rasgulla
Rasgulla is one of the most popular sweets in and around the world. It is a popular Indian sweet made purely with milk. Milk is curdled and the resulting chenna, paneer is turned into rasgullas. These delicate juicy milk balls are also called as rasagulla, rossogolla, roshogolla, rasagola, rasagolla, and rasbhari or rasbari. It is very popular in Bengali cuisine.
About Rasgulla
Rasgulla is a spongy milk balls made with milk. Milk is curdled with some kind of acids to get chenna. Chenna is nothing but milk curds which is kneaded to form into a soft dough like texture. These are shaped into small balls and cooked in sugar syrup to get soft spongy rasgulla. The recipe is similar to my Bengali chum chum.
Making Rasgulla is so easy if you follow my steps, the ratio and procedure is very important. The main thing is to get the chenna right, I have posted step wise picture for how to make chenna. Soft chenna results in a soft and spongy rasgullas. And also the consistency of sugar is also important. Please follow my measurements so you will get no fail spongy rasgullas each time. Super simple Rasgullas can be made in few steps.
Make sure you read the full recipe to learn how to make the best soft spongy rasgulla all the time. I have shared all the tricks and troubleshooting tips. Most of the doubts are cleared in this blog post like hard and dry rasgulla, flat and shrunken rasgulla and many more in my FAQ section.
What is Rasgulla taste like?
Rasgulla taste like pure milk balls which has a soft, spongy and light in texture. The milk balls is filled with sugar syrup which burst with juicy syrup.
Similar Recipes
Watch Rasgulla Recipe Video
Rasgulla Ingredients
Milk – Use full fat or full cream milk for making rasgulla. The texture of rasgulla totally depends on the milk quality. I like to use full fat cow’s milk. You can use buffalo milk too.
Lemon – I used lemon juice to curdle the milk. Instead of lemon juice, you can add leftover whey water or vinegar.
Sugar – Use refined sugar for making sugar syrup. Try to find best quality sugar which results in clear sugar syrup.
Cardamom & Saffron – cardamom and saffron is added in sugar syrup for flavouring the syrup. You can add or skip if you like.
Tips & Tricks for Soft Rasgulla
There are few main steps to get soft and spongy rasgullas. I am sharing most of it here for clear understanding. Read this completely to know how to make soft and spongy, juicy rasgullas.
Choosing Milk Type
You have to use full fat milk such as pure cows milk, whole milk or fresh full fat milk. Never use skimmed milk, low fat milk which affects in the texture of the chenna and make soft rasgulla.
Get Chenna Right (Milk Curds)
Once milk comes to a boiling stage, take it off the heat and then add in the acidic ingredients to curdle. Don’t over boil the milk else you will get hard chenna. Never allow the curdled milk to boil else it will get rubbery in texture.
Once you strain the chenna in muslin cloth or cheese cloth. Wash it multiple times in cold water to remove the sour taste as well as to stop the cooking process.
Also don’t over strain the chenna, you need some moisture in the chenna to make soft spongy rasgulla.
Kneading
In factories when making rasgulla in bulk, Automatic rasgulla balls making machine, used to form shape to the dough round, long, pressed. By this machine you can produce different type of sweets. But when making rasgulla at home, in small quantity it is best to use hands.
Knead the curds in a plate till it gets soft. kneading process is important to achieve the proper texture. The curds has to be fine in texture without large chunks of milk solids.
Don’t over knead the chenna. Else it will make the cooked rasgulla rubbery and shrink back in size once cooled.
Cooking Technique for Rasgulla
Cooking technique is very important when making rasgulla. Here I have shared all the tips and tricks to follow when cooking rasgulla. Don’t worry if your rasgullas are not perfect, you can always use them to make rasmalai.
Use Bigger Pot for Cooking – Add sugar and water to a large pot which can hold the rasgulla. It should be big enough to hold the rasgullas because those tiny balls will expand three times in volume.
Use Pot with Clear Glass Lid – It is best to use a pot with clear glass lid in which you can see through. So we don’t need to open the pot to check on the rasgulla.
Syrup Has to be Rolling Boil – Bring the sugar syrup to a full boil. We have to add rasgulla to boiling sugar syrup. Once you add the rasgulla into the syrup, mix it once using a spoon.
Cooking Timing – Cover the pot with lid and cook on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Don’t open the lid when the rasgulla is boiling. If you keep opening the lid, then the syrup temperature will reduce and rasgulla will shrink. The heat should be steady when cooking rasgulla. Once 10 minutes is up, reduce the flame and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Now reduce it even more and cook on low heat for 2 minutes.
Cooling Rasgulla to Prevent Shrinking – Now turn off the heat and let it sit covered for 2 hours. Don’t open the lid. Let it cool gently which prevents the rasgulla shrinking. You can leave the rasgulla in the syrup overnight for best results. Once the rasgulla is cooled. You can open the lid.
Rasgulla Flavours & Variations
Baked Rasgulla – This is a viral recipe for making the best roshgulla. Once rasgulla is cooked, place it in a baking tray. Pour over freshly made rabri over and bake in 180 degree C oven for 10 minutes.
Kesar Rasgulla – add a pinch of saffron when kneading chenna for a saffron scented dessert.
Stuffed Rasgulla – once rasgulla is done, split it open and stuff with khoya and nuts mixture.
Elachi Rasgulla – You can sprinkle some cardamom powder into the chenna dough and shape balls. This results in the intense cardamom flavoured dessert.
How to Make Rasgulla (Stepwise Pictures)
Pre-preparation
1)Start by doing all the pre preparation for making rasgulla. You need lemon juice to curdle the milk. I squeeze juice from 1 lemon in a bowl, you need 1.5 tblspn of lemon juice.
Pro Tips: Instead of lemon juice, you can add leftover whey water or vinegar. Check my tips section for details.
2)Line a sieve with muslin cloth and place it over a bowl. This is to strain the curdled milk.
Boiling Milk
3)Take milk in a sauce pan. I like to use a heavy bottom pan so the heat retains and the milk comes to a boiling stage faster.
Use full fat or full cream milk for making rasgulla. The texture of rasgulla totally depends on the milk quality. I like to use full fat cow’s milk. You can use buffalo milk too.
4)Place the milk pot on heat and keep mixing it constantly so no milk catches in the bottom.
5)Now you can see the milk has started to boil. You will see the milk getting frothy and creamier as you mix. Don’t boil it too much, it should be hot and foamy like this.
6)Once it reaches to that point. Take it off the heat. As you can see the milk is steaming hot.
Curdling Milk for Rasgulla
7)Add in lemon juice or vinegar slowly into the hot milk. Keep mixing so the lemon juice is evenly combined with the milk.
As soon as the lemon juice is added into the hot milk. The milk will curdle immediately.
8)Now the milk has curdled. Keep mixing gently so it curdles completely.Don’t over mix the milk, the curds has to be bigger in texture.
9)Now the milk has curdled completely. The curds are in bigger texture. Now it is completely curdled, you can see a light greenish kind of water has separated, this is the correct stage.
Straining the milk curds
10)Pour the entire thing on to the sieve. The milk curds will be collected in the sieve.
11)This is the whey water that is collected in the bottom of the bowl. It is so healthy. You can use them to knead chapati dough, add it to rasam, soup.
12)Now take a bowl of cold water, drop the curdled chenna into the water and wash it well in multiple changes of water.
Wash the curds in plenty of cold water. Rinsing them in water removes the sour taste from the curds and stops the cooking process.
13)Instead of washing it in a bowl of water. You can run it under cold tap water too. I washed it like this for 3 changes of water.
Making Chenna
14)I squeezed the muslin cloth with my hands to remove the excess water. There should be some moisture in the chenna else the rasgulla will be tough.
Pro Tip: Alternatively you can hand it over tap or countertop for 30 minutes to strain the excess liquid.
Making Sugar Syrup
15)While the chenna is resting, let’s make sugar syrup. Take sugar in a sauce pan. Make sure the rasgulla fit in the sauce pot.
It should be big enough to hold the rasgullas because those tiny balls will expand three times in volume
16)Add water over the sugar.
17)Place the pot on heat and bring it to a full boil. You are going to boil this until we are going to make rasgulla balls.
Kneading Chenna for Rasgulla
18)Take the strained curd in a large bowl or a plate. We are going to knead this well and make balls.
19)We are going to knead it with our hands. Start by kneading it with your hands gently. Use the palm of your hands to press the chenna gently. This will mash it gently and make it softer.
20)Keep squeezing and kneading it till the chenna gets soft in texture.
21)Now you can see the rasgulla mixture has become smooth and soft in texture. This process will take around 5 minutes of kneading. You shouldn’t over knead the mix also, else it will get tough and rubbery.
Shaping Rasgulla
22)Take a small portion of rasgulla mixture. The size depends on how big or small you want the rasgulla to be.
23)Roll the mixture between the palms of your hands. Don’t give too much pressure when rolling the balls. It should be gently rolled without giving pressure which makes soft rasgulla.
24)Smooth and soft rasgullas.
25)I rolled all my rasgulla balls like this.
Cooking Rasgulla in Sugar Syrup
26)Bring the sugar syrup to a full boil. It should be in rolling boil when you add the rasgulla balls into the sugar syrup. You can flavour sugar syrup with crushed cardamom and saffron strands.
27)Add the rasgulla balls into the boiling sugar syrup. Once you add the rasgulla into the syrup, mix it once using a spoon.
28)Cover the pot with a lid and cook it on high heat for 10 minutes on rolling boil.
29)You can see the rasgullas has expanded in volume. Don’t remove the lid. Just let it boil on high heat.
Once 10 minutes is up, reduce the flame and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Now reduce it even more and cook on low heat for 2 minutes.
Now turn off the heat and let it sit covered for 2 hours. Don’t open the lid. Let it cool gently which prevents the rasgulla shrinking.
Serving Rasgullas
30)You can leave the rasgulla in the syrup overnight for best results. Once the rasgulla is cooled. You can open the lid.
31)Serve rasgulla with the syrup.
32)Spongy rasgulla ready to serve.
Rasgulla in Pressure Cooker
You can easily make rasgulla in a pressure cooker. This is the process, very easy and simple to follow.
- Make chenna as mentioned in the recipe and shape rasgulla balls.
- Take water, sugar, cardamom and saffron in a pressure cooker. Bring it to a full boil.
- Once it boils, add chenna balls into the boiling syrup. Cover and pressure cook for 2 whistle. Once 2 whistle is up, reduce the flame to medium – low and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pressure release by itself.
- Once you open the cooker, let it sit in the syrup for 2 hours before serving. Serve hot or cold.
Instant Pot Rasgulla
- Make chenna as mentioned in the recipe and shape rasgulla balls.
- Take water, sugar, cardamom and saffron in the instant pot. add chenna balls into the water. Cover and set the instant pot to pressure cook and cook for 12 minutes. Let the pressure release by itself.
- Once you open the instant pot, let it sit in the syrup for 2 hours before serving. Serve hot or cold.
Expert Tips
- Use whole full fat milk for making rasgullas. Traditionally they use buffalo milk for making rasgullas.
- Chenna or Channa made has to be soft. Once you add lemon juice / curd / vinegar to your milk. Don’t over cook the chenna. Else it will get hard and rubbery. Wash the chenna made in cold water to remove the sourness.
- Knead the paneer really well till it is soft and smooth. But the dough has to be soft and smooth.
- Roll the balls till no cracks are found.
- Get the sugar syrup perfect for cooking. I use 2 cups sugar and 4 cups water.
- Use larger pan to cook the rasgullas. It expands a lot.
- You can add any flavour to the syrup like cardamom, saffron, kesar.
- Once rasgullas are cooked, drop them in cold water. If they floats then it is cooked.
FAQ
Which milk is best for making rasgulla?
Use full fat or full cream milk for making rasgulla. The texture of rasgulla totally depends on the milk quality. I like to use full fat cow’s milk. You can use buffalo milk too.
How long to knead chenna for making rasgulla?
Knead the curds in a plate till it gets soft. kneading process is important to achieve the proper texture. The curds has to be fine in texture without large chunks of milk solids.
Don’t over knead the chenna. Else it will make the cooked rasgulla rubbery and shrink back in size once cooled.
How to get soft rasgulla?
Making soft rasgulla is easy if you follow the above mentioned steps. All you have to remember is to use the right milk, get soft chenna, knead chenna well, don’t give pressure when rolling rasgulla balls, don’t over cook rasgulla.
How to prevent rasgulla from shrinking?
Once rasgulla is added to boiling sugar syrup, cook on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Don’t open the lid when the rasgulla is boiling. If you keep opening the lid, then the syrup temperature will reduce and rasgulla will shrink. The heat should be steady when cooking rasgulla. Once rasgulla is cooked, Don’t open the lid. Let it cool gently which prevents the rasgulla shrinking. You can leave the rasgulla in the syrup overnight for best results. Once the rasgulla is cooled. You can open the lid.
Why my rasgulla become hard?
The chenna should be soft and moist in texture. Don’t press the chenna like we make paneer. It has to be soft but not too dry. Chenna texture is very important for soft rasgulla.
How can I fix my hard rasgulla?
Rasgulla is quite forgiving dessert, Don’t worry if your rasgullas are not perfect, you can always use them in rasmalai and chum chum.
Why does rasgulla break when cooking?
If your chenna has too much moisture content it may break when cooking. Also when rolling the rasgulla balls, don’t give too much pressure. Roll gently.
Trick for soft roshogulla?
You can add a tsp of cornstarch or all purpose flour in the chenna and knead well. This helps in achieving the soft texture.
How long to cook?
Depending on the size of the rasgulla balls, it takes around 10 to 12 minutes to cook.
More Sweets to Try
📖 Recipe Card
Rasgulla Recipe | How to Make Bengali Rasgulla Recipe
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 464kcal
Equipment
Cooking Pot with Lid
Shallow Plate
Video
Notes
- Use whole full fat milk for making rasgullas. Traditionally they use buffalo milk for making rasgullas.
- Chenna or Channa made has to be soft. Once you add lemon juice / curd / vinegar to your milk. Don’t over cook the chenna. Else it will get hard and rubbery. Wash the chenna made in cold water to remove the sourness.
- Knead the paneer really well till it is soft and smooth. But the dough has to be soft and smooth.
- Roll the balls till no cracks are found.
- Get the sugar syrup perfect for cooking. I use 2 cups sugar and 4 cups water.
- Use larger pan to cook the rasgullas. It expands a lot.
- You can add any flavour to the syrup like cardamom, saffron, kesar.
- Once rasgullas are cooked, drop them in cold water. If they floats then it is cooked.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servings | Calories: 464kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 139mg | Potassium: 523mg | Fiber: 0.04g | Sugar: 83g | Vitamin A: 557IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 429mg | Iron: 0.05mg
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