Rasgulla: Soft Chenna Dumplings in Cardamom Syrup
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats.
Soft homemade chenna kneaded smooth, rolled into balls and boiled in a cardamom syrup until they puff up light and springy.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Curdle the milk. Bring the milk to the boil in the heavy saucepan, stirring now and then so it does not catch. Take it off the heat, wait 1 min, then add the lemon juice mixed with the 25 ml water a little at a time, stirring gently. Stop as soon as the curds separate from a clear, greenish whey; overdoing the acid gives tough curds.
- 2
Rinse and drain. Line the sieve with muslin and set it over the bowl, then pour in the curds. Rinse them under cold running water, which washes away the lemon flavour and cools the curds so they stay tender. Gather the cloth, twist out the liquid and hang it, or rest it under a light weight, for 20-30 min until the chenna is moist but no longer dripping.
- 3
Knead until smooth. Tip the chenna onto a clean worktop, sprinkle over the cornflour and knead with the heel of your hand for 8-10 min. At first it feels crumbly; it is ready when it is completely smooth and your palm looks slightly greasy. A smooth dough is what stops the balls cracking in the syrup.
- 4
Shape the balls. Divide the chenna into 16 equal pieces. Roll each between your palms into a smooth ball without any cracks, keeping the finished ones covered so they do not dry out.
- 5
Boil the syrup. Put the 750 ml water, sugar and cardamom in the wide pan and bring to a rolling boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. A thin syrup is important here, as it lets the dumplings swell rather than shrink.
- 6
Cook the dumplings. Lower the balls into the boiling syrup, cover and keep at a steady boil for 12-15 min, gently shaking the pan once or twice. They will roughly double in size and feel light and springy; steam trapped under the lid helps them puff.
- 7
Cool and chill. Take the pan off the heat and let the dumplings cool in the syrup, where they absorb it and settle. Chill for at least 2 h and serve 2 per person with a little of the syrup.
Storage
Keep in their syrup in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days. They are best served chilled and are not suitable for freezing.
EU nutrition claims
- Source of protein: 3.9 g protein per 100 kcal, about 16% of energy (needs ≥ 12%)
- Low salt: 0.01 g salt per 100 g (limit ≤ 0.3 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 108 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
18.7 g per serving
37.4 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 74.8 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- large heavy saucepan
- fine sieve
- muslin or a clean thin tea towel
- large bowl
- wide lidded pan, at least 24 cm
- slotted spoon
- serving bowl
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 153 kcal |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Carbohydrate | 20.6 g |
| of which sugars | 19.3 g |
| of which free sugars | 18.7 g |
| Fat | 5.9 g |
| of which saturates | 3.8 g |
| Fibre | 0 g |
| Salt | 0.01 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
3.9 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
