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.
 * 2) Paneer made for Rasgullas should not be weighted down too much.
 * 3) There is no need to form a cube as you will be mashing it after.
 * 4) Drain for a half hour. In a large pan, mash the paneer till you have kneaded into a smooth dough.
 * 5) This should take around 10 minutes. The softer you make it, the better the end result.
 * 6) 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.
 * 7) 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.
 * 8) Bring the liquid to a boil, no more then 4 minutes, and then reduce to a very low flame to keep warm.
 * 9) To make the soaking syrup, bring the water to a boil with the sugar, bay leaf, and cardamom.
 * 10) Boil for no more than 5 minutes and then turn the flame off. Add the scented water and keep this warm.
 * 11) Take some of the cheese and make balls around 1 inch in diameter. Your goal should be to make around 2 dozen such balls.
 * 12) Make a depression in each of these balls with your finger and place a sugar cube in each of these.
 * 13) Reshape into a smooth ball with no cracks at all.
 * 14) Raise heat for the soaking syrup, and bring it to a gentle simmer that is bubbling but not boiling.
 * 15) 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.
 * 16) Cover the container once all the balls are placed into the syrup.
 * 17) Cook in this simmering syrup for about a half hour. The balls should have expanded in size and look more opaque.
 * 18) Remove these from this simmering syrup with a slotted spoon and gently place each of these into the soaking scented syrup.
 * 19) Once you have placed all of these into the syrup, let the syrup and the balls cool, and then cover and chill overnight.
 * 20) These will taste much better once the flavors have melded into the cheese balls.
 * 21) The soaking in the syrup also makes the spongy balls become a little softer.