Rasgulla – They give us the picture of spongy sugar soaked delicacy from Bengal.
Today my son wanted to eat paneer subzi (curry made with cottage cheese). But I did not have any paneer at home and so thought of making paneer at home. I had skimmed milk so curdled it with curd. But the paneer came out crumbly. The only option then left was to make paneer bhurji from it or make some stuff parathas or koftas. Then I thought of making rasgullas from it. So I started the process. I took the crumbled paneer, washed it with plain cold water to remove the extra sourness from it and then kneaded it till soft and smooth and made round balls from it. Then what?? Again a new idea!! I thought let me use this soft balls in a spicy curry instead of making sweet since my son wanted to eat paneer curry. So I took the balls and boiled them in the boiling water for 7-8 minutes as we do it while making rasgullas. The result was super, spongy and soft rasgullas or the paneer balls. My husband wanted to eat kaju masala. (curry made with cashewnuts) and that gave me an idea of combining my soft rasgullas with the kaju masala. I made this fusion dish and the result was the perfect rich taste with silky gravy. The dash of saffron made it more nawabi (royal) or shahi.
And what else do you want when your experiment is a success. Husband happy, son happy and happy me.
I was not able to take pictures of the steps involved in making the soft rasgulla ( paneer balls), but I will soon post my recipe of the soft , smooth and spongy rasgullas.
The pictorial steps of making gravy are shown below.
So enjoy this very nice version of sour rasgulla in cashewnut gravy.
Paneer Rasgulla Kaju Masala
Ingredients
Paneer rasgullas
- 3 cup skimmed milk
- 1.5 cup curd skimmed (dahi ) yoghurt
- water for boiling and soaking
Gravy
- 3 medium onion boiled and ground into smooth paste
- 2 medium tomato boiled and ground into smooth paste
- 2 tbsp cashew nut soaked in warm water
- 1 tbsp poppy seed soaked in warm water along with cashew nuts
- 75 g cashew nut halved
- 1/2 tbsp ginger paste
- 1/2 tbsp garlic paste
- 2 tbsp kasuri methi dried fenugreek leaves
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp red chili powder (kashmiri)
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp kitchen king masala
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp coriander chopped for garnishing
- saffron few strands used in gravy and for garnishing
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- salt as per taste
Instructions
Paneer Rasgullas (Boiled Cottage Cheese Balls)
- Bring the milk to boil in the thick bottom pan. When it starts boling, lower the heat and add curd stirring continously. The milk will curdle. Stir it till the entire milk is curdled and the greenish whey is seperated. Drain it in the sieve or soft clean cloth. Wash it with plain water to remove the sourness. Squeeze out extra water and rest it for 30 minutes. The extra water will be removed. Now take crumbled mixture in a dish and knead it nicely for about 7-8 minutes. It will become smooth like a dough. Make small round balls from it and cover and boil them in the boiling water for 7-8 minutes. (around small 14 balls can be made) .They will increase in size. Just remove them and put them in salted water in a bowl for 20 minutes.
- Just see how soft, spongy they look.
Gravy
- Heat oil in a pan and roast the cashew nuts in them till golden brown.
- Remove in a plate and keep aside.
- In the same oil, add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cumin seeds
- When they crackle add the onion paste to it and cook for a minute. Then add the ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute.
- Add the tomato paste in it.
- Mix well and cook till the mixture thickens.
- Add all the spices (turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, garam masala and kitchen king masala)
- Mix them well . Make smooth paste of soaked cashewnuts and poppy seeds. Add this paste to the gravy.
- Mix well. The addition of the cashew paste will lighten the colour of the gravy.
- Add milk and mix well and cook for 5-7 minutes. (here instead of adding milk you can add cream) I skipped cream as I do not want to add the extra calories.
- Now crush the kasuri methi with your palms and add to the gravy . Mix and cook for a minute.
- Add the paneer rasgullas (boiled cottage cheese balls) and some roasted cashewnuts to it.
- Mix it well. Add the water to and let it simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat.
- Now add the strands of saffron and mix. The curry is ready to serve.
- Remove in a serving bowl. Add more roasted cashewnuts .Garnish with saffron strands and chopped coriander and serve it with the parathas. or roti, kulchas or naan
- "Hey honey , just take a bite and see." Said I. "Wow darling, the curry is tasty and the rasgullas are soft spongy and have absorbed the flavor of the gravy.", answered he. I am happy..
very nice nd tasty recipe
very lovely dish. like the innovation.
new innovativ dish lovely recipe