Soft roshogollas

Soft Roshogollas 

 The truth is practice makes things perfect well perfect being subjective. The truth is Kolkata has been known for the longest time as the City of roshogollas, (little cheese balls in thin sugar syrup) but the truth is this delightful sweet-dish was invented in our neighbouring state of Orissa , well they might have invented it but here in Bengal they mastered the art of roshogolla making.

To be fair there are two distinct variants of roshogollas, the spongy ones which are more popular across India but he who has not tasted the extra soft roshogollas does not what what he is missing.

Before we go on we must realize one thing, one cannot have everything. So if a recipe claims to be both ultra-soft and spongy then one should take it with a grain of salt.

As for myself I have never been a fan of roshogollas especially the spongy ones but soft and melt in the mouth especially served hot, well that make sit irresistible to me. Served in the lanes and bylanes of North Kolkata (the old part of calcutta) these soft 'tultule' 'soft as butter' roshogollas are truly divine.

I had originally followed a recipe successfully and then went to adjust it to make it super soft

Here is what you need to understand about 'roshogollas' :-

1. The quality of cheese (homemade cheese by adding an acidic agent to milk) must be super soft 
2. The syrup should be watery 
3. The milk must have the full goodness of full fat. 
4. The acidic agent when diluted yields the softest cheese 

Now I know this might sound a bit complicated but believe me when I say that leftover whey (the liquid left after making paneer) makes the softest new batch of cheese that there ever could be. 

What you need :- 

2 litres of full fat milk 

2 tea cups of sugar (cups which hold 210ml of liquid) 

10 cups of water 

1.5 tbsp semolina 

1 tbsp ground sugar 

6 to 7 cardamom 

400ml whey + 2 tbsp whey 

2 tbsp vinegar 

25 nakuldana/ makhana 

3 ladles of warm water 

Makhana/ Nakuldana

Now I made the 'chana' (the cheese) in batches so I used 1 litre of milk with 200ml of whey and 2 tsp vinegar . I brought the milk to a boil and slowly added the whey + vinegar mixture and then kept stirring the pot to prevent any scorching.

Remember that a little scorching would result in a yellowish colour. When the cheese separated and I was left with an olive coloured liquid I turned off the gas-stove and covered and waited for 5 minutes and then gathered the cheese in a muslin cloth and let it submerge in the whey while I made the second batch of cheese and then tied it in the muslin cloth and washed the cheese to rid it of any lemony smell. There hardly was any lemony smell. 

Now since you have already washed the cheese in water it will not be hot and so tie it in the muslin cloth and squeeze out all the water  . Now I have seen many a recipe where it asks you to hang the cheese for hours and well that never would yield such soft roshogollas. (You must make sure that the cheese is dry yet not fully dry and this is something that you have to understand because if it has some extra whey than required it would make the roshogollas break so trust your cooking instinct) 

Now comes the part for kneading. Knead it well for 15 minutes to 20 minutes with the semolina and ground sugar.Add 2 tbsp whey. It should be so soft that it melts when you rub it between two fingers within seconds. This kneading is very important. 

Now prepare the balls by placing one makhana in the belly and forming balls , take your time to make sure it has no cracks but there will be pores. You should ideally have 25 balls. 

Now bring the sugar , cardamom and water to boil and when it is boiling put gas to low flame and add the balls, they should float and then cover without any gaps and boil on high for 15 minutes. Now open the cover and remove any sacum whcih has formed and add a ladle of warm water (this step is extremely important to make soft roshogollas) and then cover with no opening and simmer for the next 20 minutes. use another lade of water after 10 minutes of simmering and one more time after 7 minutes of having used the previous lade of water. Now let the roshogollas come to room temperature. Do not disturb them. Try one hot roshogolla and if it is not your thing when it comes to room temperature put everything in the refrigerator and enjoy the softest of roshogollas.Once cool there might be a layer of scum, remove it and you are good to go.