NOTUN GURER ROSHOGOLLA

Though I live in a tropical country, back home it is still winter and people are enjoying all sorts of pithe [steamed and fried snacks / dumplings] and sweets made of notun / nolen / patali / khejur gur [date palm jaggery]. As told earlier, it is available only during the winter, I felt why not prepare few more favourite sweets with  notun gur  / date palm jaggery before it goes off the market. I get a small amount of this gur, say about a kilogram from Kolkata because I have seen refrigerating them for too long hardens it and its unique flavour is lost. In such tropical weather we cannot keep it in normal temperature as it spoils quickly, neither it has a shelf life in the Kolkata summers! 

In such a scenario, I prefer to finish it off quickly preparing goodies for my family. I remember since childhood till date roshogolla and Marie biscuit ruled among all other sweets and biscuits at my parent's home. Oh, cream cracker biscuit too, topped with homemade jelly. The mother used to make guava, mango and pineapple jelly. Kolkata winter and date palm jaggery is synonymous, it is part of our culture, of our being! I do not believe in selling them in tubes but it is necessary, else the Bengali expats' kids would never know what Nolen gur is, neither they are bothered! Because they are not bothered, I make it a point to get our culture on a plate & serve them!

Roshogolla / Rasgulla is not something I do on a regular basis, I prefer doing sandesh, ladoo and kheer rather which I find easier. However I feel I need to do roshogolla more often at home because what we get here is not that much tasty as it is back home. While preparing roshogolla, the most famous of all Bengali sweets, my heartbeat gets faster. I get too tensed thinking will it break while it's boiling or not. I have slowly and gradually learnt the tricks of getting it right. Now only practice can get me off the fear. Earlier I blogged about a rose flavoured roshogolla, hence each time while doing it I take the measurements according to it. I have tried to give stepwise pictures for the rosogolla preparation with date palm jaggery. Come, let us prepare together this winter treat from Bengal.

INGREDIENTS : [for the chena / paneer]

Milk [fresh] or a Good Quality Milk Powder : 1 litre [I never get good paneer from tetra pack milk]
Lemon Juice : 1/4 small tea cup [of one big sized]

Water : 2-3 tbsp
Ice Cube : 3-4

INGREDIENTS : [for the jaggery syrup]

Patali Gur / Date Palm Jaggery : 200 gm

Sugar : 2-3 tbsp [enhances the taste]
Water : 6- 8 coffee mug [while doing rasgullas we cannot allow the syrup to get sticky] [the paneer balls should get enough space to move around while boiling]

INGREDIENTS : [for the final thing]

Paneer : As we get
Semolina : 1 tsp [you can use Refined Flour too]
The Boiling Jaggery syrup

METHOD :

Pour the milk in a heavy bottomed vessel. Bring it to a boil, add the lemon juice & water mixture. As the milk curdles, switch off the gas stove, add the ice cubes at once. 

Strain the paneer through a clean white cloth, put over a strainer, to separate the whey water! I was in a hurry & directly strained! Then, tie the cloth with paneer on your kitchen tap. Keep tied for about 40-45 minutes and take down, untie.

If you are doing it my way, a little of the paneer goes with the water, too little but the time is saved! Transfer to a bowl or plate, add the semolina or refined flour to it. We need to knead it well.

Keep mashing and kneading for about 10-12 minutes. Stop kneading as your palm starts feeling greasy / wet!

Prepare small balls from the dough. We get about 9-10 roshogolla  from the dough.

Break the jaggery further into smaller pieces. Take 6-8 coffee mugs of water and the sugar & date palm jaggery / patali gur in a deep bottomed vessel. Put for boil.

As it starts boiling vigorously and the jaggery melts, drop the paneer balls, cover and let boil for 18-20 minutes at medium to high heat!  The heat should be at medium to high! Switch off the gas stove, they should be done. 

Transfer carefully to a bowl. Serve warm or chilled as your family prefers.