Rosgullas

Description

 * Ethnicity - Bengali, East Indian
 * Type of Meal - Party, Lunch, Dinner

Ingredients
Milk Balls:
 * Paneer (make only 1 portion of the recipe)
 * 1/2 tsp. all purpose flour or semolina if available
 * 2 dozen sugar cubes
 * Syrup to cook with:
 * 1 1/4 cup sugar
 * 7 cups water
 * 1 bay leaf
 * 1 cardamom pod

Syrup to soak in:
 * 1 Bay leaf
 * 6 green cardamom pods
 * 1 tsp. rose water or even orange blosson water
 * 1 cup sugar
 * 4 cups of water

Directions

 * 1) Drain the paneer very well before use. You can even make the paneer the day before. Paneer made for Rasgullas should not be weighted down too much. There is no need to form a cube as you will be mashing it after. Drain for a half hour. In a large pan, mash the paneer till you have kneaded into a smooth dough. This should take around 10 minutes. The softer you make it, the better the end result. Spread the paneer into as fine a layer as possible, sprinkle the flour over the surface of paneer and knead well to mix it thoroughly. Let this kneaded dough rest for a few minutes.
 * 2) In a deep pan, maybe even a large pressure cooker, bring the 7 cups of water to a boil with the sugar, bay leaf and cardamom pod in it. Bring the liquid to a boil, no more then 4 minutes, and then reduce to a very low flame to keep warm.
 * 3) To make the soaking syrup, bring the water to a boil with the sugar, bay leaf, and cardamom. Boil for no more than 5 minutes and then turn the flame off. Add the scented water and keep this warm.
 * 4) Take some of the cheese and make balls around 1 inch in diameter. Your goal should be to make around 2 dozen such balls.
 * 5) Make a depression in each of these balls with your finger and place a sugar cube in each of these. Reshape into a smooth ball with no cracks at all.
 * 6) Raise heat for the soaking syrup, and bring it to a gentle simmer that is bubbling but not boiling. To this add the milk balls very carefully. You can even do this by putting them onto spoons and dropping them gently into the syrup.
 * 7) Cover the container once all the balls are placed into the syrup. Cook in this simmering syrup for about a half hour. The balls should have expanded in size and look more opaque.
 * 8) Remove these from this simmering syrup with a slotted spoon and gently place each of these into the soaking scented syrup.
 * 9) Once you have placed all of these into the syrup, let the syrup and the balls cool, and then cover and chill overnight. These will taste much better once the flavors have melded into the cheese balls. The soaking in the syrup also makes the spongy balls become a little softer.