Freshly made spongy cottage cheese balls cooked in cardamom infused sugar syrup; this Rasgulla recipe using the Instant Pot is NO-FAIL and PERFECT each time!
Today is Diwali! The day we celebrate with lights, colorful rangoli, fireworks and of course AMAZING food. Food plays a major role in festivals and sweets take dominance. For the last few days our lunch and dinner has been sweets. Rounding up today with these Easy to make Rasgullas!
Rasgullas are a popular Indian sweet dish. Made by curdling milk and boiling the resultant balls in sugar syrup, these are popular across the country and outside. A common sweet that can be found at most stores that sell Indian sweets; these are also available in Indian stores in canned form. But nothing matches the taste of freshly made rasgullas at home!
Every year we enjoy some traditional sweets and some new ones for Diwali. While Lapsi, peda and ladoos are made each year, the other sweets vary. This year I wanted to make something easy and decided to make these INSTANT POT rasgullas!
Rasgullas from scratch has been my favorite. The taste of freshly made rasgullas is super satisfying and amazing. Now with the Instant Pot, it is so simple; I think I m going to make them more often!
This Diwali I made a few delicious sweets and savory snacks. We have been enjoying them even through the week! Here is what all I made this year:
- Badam Puri | Flourless Almond Cookies
- Rava Sheera | Sooji Halwa
- Baked Farsi Puri
- Sweet Shakarpara | Sweet Shankarpali
- Baked Chakli
How to make Rasgullas in the Instant Pot
The procedure to make rasgullas on the stove and in the Instant Pot is similar. First you make the paneer/chenna and then boil the chenna balls in sugar syrup. If doing it on the stove top, timing has to be noted at every step.
The milk might boil over if you miss seeing it and the chenna will overcook and become hard if boiled for a long time. Instead use the Instant Pot with it's timed functions; and the recipe becomes NO FAIL.
For this recipe I used the Instant Pot's two functions; the Yogurt function to boil milk and the pressure cook function to soak the balls in sugar syrup. The results are GREAT each time and the recipe is now made more often!
Love the Instant Pot like me? Try one of these recipes then:
- Butternut Squash Soup
- 30-Minute Vegetable Biryani
- Peanut Tofu Curry with Rice
- Home-made Ghee using Unsalted Butter
- Perfect 5 Minute Quinoa
- Simple Plain Yogurt
Points to note while making the Rasgullas
The recipe below shows how easy it is to make the rasgullas. There are a few things to note through the process.
- Add some water with milk to the pot to make paneer. This avoids the milk sticking to the base and getting the dreaded 'Burn' warning
- Lemon juice can be substituted by white vinegar. However, my observation is that vinegar yields a result that is perfect for firm paneer. So i use lemon juice to make soft paneer here
- Ensure the balls are rolled tight.They might disintegrate if it is not tight
- Do not boil the sugar syrup a lot. It might become too thick and not result in perfectly soft rasgullas
I made a batch of medium sized ones; that could be gobbled in one bite. However, the same recipe can be used to make large ones. Just remember that the rasgullas will become bigger when boiled and further big when they absorb more syrup.
Finally, with all this, it is time to make the rasgullas. Read on and hope you try this one!
Ingredients
For the Paneer
Whole Milk 4 cups
Water ¼ cup
Lemon juice ¼ cup
For the Sugar Syrup
Sugar 2 cup
Water 4 cups
Cardamom pods 2-3
Almond, pistachios and dries rose petals to garnish
Method
In the Instant Pot insert add the water and milk. Set mode to 'Yogurt' and use the adjust button a couple of times till the display reads 'Boil'. Close the lid and let the milk come to a boil. The valve can be sealing or venting.
The pot will beep once the milk boils. Open the lid and set mode to 'Saute'. When it starts to bubble, add lemon juice and stir until it separates in to curds and whey.
Strain through a cheese cloth resting on a colander then run cold water over it to get rid of the lemon juice completely. Fold the cloth and let it hang on a cabinet handle or faucet for 15 minutes.
Wash the Instant Pot insert and add the syrup ingredients and set mode to 'Sauté'. Let the syrup come to a boil while making the paneer balls.
Once the paneer is strained, remove the leftover moisture from it by squeezing and transfer to a plate. Knead it until it’s firm but still moist or pulse in a food processor until it forms a ball.
Roll balls of paneer in your hands (about the size of an almond). I made 18 balls from the paneer formed above. Drop the balls in to the boiling sugar water.
Set the Instant Pot mode to 'Steam' and low pressure. Adjust time to 10 minutes and keep the vent sealed. Once the time is done, let the pressure release naturally. Forcing the steam out will cause the rasgullas to burst.
Remove from the Instant Pot and cool. Store refrigerated for up to a week. Serve topped with almonds, pistachios and dried rose petals.
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