For the Rasgullas or Cottage cheese dumplings, boil 1 litre milk and switch off the flame.
Mix the citric acid crystals with 1/4 Cup hot water and slowly add the water to the boiled milk little by little stirring the milk all the time.If using lemon, add the juice to the milk.
The milk will curdle and the milk solids and whey will separate.
Strain the milk solids or the cottage cheese and wash it under running water so that traces of lemon washes off.
Leave it in the strainer ina muslin cloth till all the water drains out or for atleast half an hour.
Once the water drains out from the Chhena or cottage cheese knead it on your clean work counter or a wide vessel with the heel of your hand for nearly 10 minutes. The chenna should become smooth and pliable and you should be able to see traces of oil in your hands.
Now add the rawa or semolina to it and knead again for 5 more minutes.
Make 20 equal sized small, smooth balls, without any cracks from the dough and cover with a wet cloth.
Meanwhile boil the water and sugar mentioned under Chenna Rasgullas in a pressure cooker till the sugar dissolves properly.
Now slowly leave the Chenna balls in the sugar mixture and cook the balls till one whistle and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes in low flame And switch off.
Boil the milk mentioned under Rabdi in low flame stirring in between till the milk is reduced to half the quantity. This will take around 30- 40 minutes.
Add the sugar , cardamom powder and saffron strands to the milk and boil for 5 more minutes.
Now add the Rasgullas or Chenna balls from the pressure cooker making sure to squeeze the water from the Chenna balls before adding it to the boiling reduced milk.
Let the Rasgullas boil in low flame in the sweetened milk for nearly 10 minutes. Keep stirring in between as the milk tends to scorch the bottom. Stir carefully and very slowly so that the Rasgullas do not break open.
Switch off the flame and let it cool down.Refrigerate and serve with saffron and pistachios (optional)garnished.
Recipe Notes
Notes
When kneading the cottage cheese for the rasgullas make sure the chenna is not very dry but a little moist, otherwise the rasgullas will become hard.If it is too soft then the balls will break.
It’s better to make the rasgullas in two batches to avoid overcrowding the pressure cooker as the rasgullas puff up and become double in volume.So make sure you leave enough space in the cooker while cooking it. The other advantage is all the sugar syrup gets used up .