Nolen Gurer Rosogolla!! (Rasgulla in date palm jaggery syrup)

Nolen gur or date palm jaggery is available during winters and there are plenty of sweet dishes and desserts that gets prepared in Bengali homes during winters using this absolute flavorful "Nolen Gur".  Though nolen gur is abundantly available in Bengal but people staying out of Bengal can definitely opt for online availability like I got mine (from bigbasket) Though not like the ones that we get back home but still is equally flavorful.

Incase you dont find nolen gur or date palm jaggery you can always make it with only sugar. These melt in mouth , soft rosogollas are definitely going to win your heart.

So lets get started.

Ingredients

Milk : Half Litre (full cream)

Sugar : 1 cup

Jaggery : 1/2 cup (nolen gur/ date palm jaggery)

Lemon Juice : 1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon water(you can also use white vinegar)

Semolina : 1 teaspoon

Incase you are not using jaggery , use 1.5 cup of sugar.

Procedure:

 Making the chana / Paneer 

For making chana or paneer 

First boil the milk and once it boils completely , switch off the flame and wait for two minutes.

After two minutes, slowly start adding the lemon water little by little at a time and keep stiring and also keep a close watch. 

The moment you see the whey separated or the water turns greenish and is no more white. You need to stop adding the lemon mixture right there, else your paneer will turn chewy.

And immediately add some cold water or ice cubes so that the curdling process stops and strain the paneer as soon as you can .

Pass the paneer through a strainer and run cold water through it, so that there is no smell of lemon or vinegar in it.

Once you have strained, put the paneer in a cotton piece of colth and hang it for at least 30 minutes.

This will insure the extra moisture and water is drained out. You can hang it for as long as two hours.

By the time this gets done we will prepare the sugar jaggery syrup.

Take the sugar and jaggery in a pan and add around 4.5 cups of water (ratio of sugar/jaggery to water should be 1:3) and let it boil.

Add a spoonful of milk in the boiling syrup to get rid of the impurities. The moment you add milk the impurities start getting curdled up on top. Which you can collect with a laddle and discard. If the sugar and jaggery you used are pure and clean you may not need to do this step.

The syrup for rosogollas are not very thick so you dont need to boil it too much. Once the sugar jaggery dissolves, you can boil for another 5 minutes and switch off the flame (after extracting the impurites).

After you have kept the paneer hanging for quite sometime. You can take the paneer and semolina in a plate. Remember your paneer should not be too dry or too wet. 

Now mix the semolina in the paneer and start kneading with your palm.

You should get a uniform dough without any lumps. The semolina will absorb any extra moisture and help in shaping.

Keep kneading for 10 minutes or till you feel your hands have turned greesy and the dough is smooth and lump free.

Now roll into small crack free even looking balls.

Remember they will double up in size so accordingly shape them. I made 10 and they were of decent size.

Time to put them into the syrup.

The syrup should be warm and not boiling when you put the paneer balls inside.

Make sure to cover the sauce pan and also make sure you have a bigger saucepan where there is enough space for the balls to swell up.

Put the balls in the syrup , cover the lid and turn the flame on. Once it boils, turn the flame to medium to low.

Now with some practice I have come to this conclusion that the rosogollas should be boiled in the sugar jaggery syrup for 30-35 minutes. In case you are using jaggery syrup you will see slowly the rosogollas have changed the colour. My rosogollas show the doneness by 35 minutes.

No matter how difficult it is... but resist the urge to open the lid. hence I suggest use a glass lid so that you can see whats happening inside. And trust me its a joy to watch the paneer balls swell up into rosogollas.

After 35 minutes, switch off the flame and keep them covered for another 30 -35 minutes.

After the second set of 35 minutes, your rosogollas are ready to serve.!!

You can see the difference in the size.

Points to remember:

1. Take full cream milk only.

2. Mix the lemon juice or vinegar with equal amount of water.

3. Add the lemon juice after 2 minutes of switching off the flame.

4. You may not require the entire lemon water hence add little at a time.

5. Knead the paneer well.

6. The syrup should not turn thick.

7. Maintain the timings.

Do give it a try I am sure you will love it.!!