Janmashtami is the celebration of Lord Krishna’s birth which takes place at midnight as Krishna is said to have made his divine appearance at that time in the village of Vrindavan thousands of years ago. The festival gathers old and young together in a euphoric atmosphere marked by fasting and chanting of bhajans in the glory of Lord Krishna. It focuses particularly on the birth and childhood stories of Krishna, described as the mischevious yet adorable son of Yashoda and Nandrai. Janmashtami, in India, is celebrated with lots of devotion and enthusiasm with children dressing up as bal gopal and youngsters forming towering human pyramids to break the dahi handi.
In Mauritius, the celebrations are held in temples and ISKCON centres all over the island. The programme consists of devotional songs, plays and dance by ISKCON members, ending after midnight with a big feast served to all devotees and guests. Since the Lord was fond of milk and butter, the dishes prepared on the occasion of Janmashtami are typically rich in these two ingredients.
Rasgulla was one of those milk-based desserts that has been on my request list for too long and this was the perfect opportunity to share it with you. Made from milk solids and fat, these deep fried balls are left to soak in a heavy sugar syrup flavoured with cardamom and rose water. No, this is not the Bengali paneer-derived white rasgulla you will find in Indian restaurants. The recipe I bring to you is the Mauritian version, albeit a corrupted copy of the Indian gulab jamun. As for the Mauritian gulab jamun, well, that’s an entirely different story…
RASGULLA
Ingredients:
For the Sugar Syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
5 cardamom pods
1 tsp rose water
For the Rasgulla Dough
1 1/2 cups liquid whole milk
1 cup whole milk powder
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
3 tbs butter or ghee
2-3 tsp water
Oil, for deep frying
Method:
- For the syrup, bring water to the boil along with sugar and cardamom. Let it boil until it forms a ‘two strands’ syup.
- Remove from heat and set aside. Add rose water or saffron strands and leave to diffuse in the hot syrup.
- For the dough, bring 1 ½ cups of liquid milk to boil. Keep stirring till the milk is reduced to a thick mass. Set aside to cool.
- In a mixing bowl, sift milk powder, flour and baking soda. Rub the butter into the mixture until grainy and coarse.
- Add the reduced milk and enough water to form a soft dough. Divide into walnut sized portions and roll into smooth balls.
- They should not have cracks else they will break while frying. Place at least 1 1/2 inch of oil in a frying pan over low heat.
- The correct temperature is reached when a small piece of dough takes about a minute to rise to the surface.
- Fry dough balls for about 10 minutes until evenly brown in colour. They will increase in volume so allow for enough space.
- If fried over too high heat or for a short time the centre will not be thoroughly cooked. Drain well when removing from pan.
- Let the rasgullas cool slightly before soaking them in the sugar syrup. Leave them in the syrup for at least 20 minutes.
- Rasgullas can be kept at room temperature for about a week and up to one month when refrigerated.
Jai Shri Krishna!
52 comments
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November 8, 2012 at 5:31 pm
Diwali – Moricienneries Style [Guest Post] « Heaven on a Spoon
[…] [Mauritian] Rasgulla – Similar to the gulab jamun except that it is round and spongier in consistency. Tends to […]
November 10, 2012 at 7:41 am
Indu Mohes
hi prerrna.
I usually do rasgullas but i add some semolina to it wen mixing the dry ingredients. and i never tried doing with the reduced milk. wat is the purpose of the reduced milk?
November 10, 2012 at 3:47 pm
prerrnamirchi
hello indu i guess each person has his/her own recipe that works best for him/her. I prefer the one with reduced milk because i think it gives a soft spongy texture to the rasgullas and helps them to absorb the syrup better.
November 10, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Vimla Roopa
Hi, i want to try your recipe for the coming divali, so can you please tell me the http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7128/7734312030_70b94eb15a.jpg picture is for what exactly?
November 10, 2012 at 3:57 pm
prerrnamirchi
hello vimla it is a photo of the reduced milk mass after liquid milk has been left to evaporate slowly. be sure to stir the mixture regularly to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and remember to use a non-stick pan! happy divali 🙂
November 11, 2012 at 6:33 pm
dainee mulloo
hi prerrna!! i found your rasgullas recipes fantastic, but if i have to do for around 60, how much powdered milk should i use??? please answer asap, as it it for this coming diwali…. thx
November 11, 2012 at 8:31 pm
prerrnamirchi
hello dainee the recipe makes around 15-20 rasgullas depending on the size you have them. For a batch of 60 I think you can triple the amounts keeping the same proportion of ingredients. It is always advisable to do a test batch first when trying any new recipe. Wish u a very Happy Diwali!
November 12, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Indu Mohes
can i use evaporated milk n reduce it ?
November 12, 2012 at 6:34 pm
prerrnamirchi
well u can try using evaporated milk. do let me know how it turns out 🙂
November 12, 2012 at 5:44 pm
Vimla Roopa
hi prerrna, thx for your reply, i never thought that milk can be reduced to such a paste, i just tried it and it works fine 😀 fortunately you told me to use a non-stick pan… My rasgulas are ready, just waiting to taste it now 🙂 Wish you a very happy divali too !!
November 13, 2012 at 1:46 am
Yari
Reducing the milk to a paste takes a very lonngggg time right??? Because mine seem to reduce down to nothing……
November 13, 2012 at 2:36 am
Yari
My dough is not coming together, it is still grainy….
November 13, 2012 at 3:02 am
Yari
I don’t know what I did wrong, but my dough isn’t like how it’s supposed to be, and the frying is more like burning lithe little balls rather than cook them and the fire was on the lowest…. I gave up and now I have wasted a whole lot of ingredients….
November 13, 2012 at 5:45 pm
prerrnamirchi
sorry to hear that yari. hope u have better luck next time!
December 19, 2012 at 10:34 pm
amankeeroo
wow, paret mari serye,mo pou saiy sa ,.merci
February 25, 2013 at 4:26 pm
Rayna
It was not easy
February 25, 2013 at 4:44 pm
prerrnamirchi
hi rayna, not easy but worth the effort in the end?
February 27, 2013 at 11:27 am
shaina
wow, top net. hey, si to cav post recet pou barfi, pou mari seryer
April 14, 2013 at 2:19 pm
Shobna
Hello, can condensed milk be used instead of reduced milk mass?
April 14, 2013 at 6:56 pm
prerrnamirchi
I guess you can try using it but condensed milk is much sweeter so you’ll probably need to adjust the amount of sugar.
May 25, 2013 at 5:09 pm
Priya
Hi,
I wana try your recipe: can you give me the exact measurement of ingredients in terms of ml and grams.
Thnx
May 28, 2013 at 5:05 pm
prerrnamirchi
hello priya, will try to get the conversion later, kinda busy these days. sorry.
June 17, 2013 at 3:20 pm
sharmee
hello..i just wanted to ask u something ,the measurement u given above is for many rasgullas?? plzz tell me..thank you
June 19, 2013 at 4:00 am
prerrnamirchi
yup makes a fair amount, around 15-20 I think.
September 24, 2013 at 12:47 am
amreeta
i love eating rasgoola but am not very good at making it
September 24, 2013 at 7:19 am
prerrnamirchi
hi amreeta you should give it a try if you love it so much!
October 14, 2013 at 8:00 am
natasha
Hi am natasha, i wanna try your recipe but i want to know how long does it take to reduce milk mass
October 16, 2013 at 6:33 am
prerrnamirchi
hi Natasha, sorry but cnt remember how long it took me to reduce the milk, probably between 30-45 minutes. You should keep lowering the heat as the volume of milk gets lesser to prevent it from burning and stir the mixture regularly.
October 16, 2013 at 3:14 pm
natasha
Thx a lot
May 21, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Boodhun Fara
Hi..My rasgullah came out well cooked and quite soft as well. but it did not absorb much syrup…even if i let it soaked for hours…why is that?
May 25, 2014 at 6:04 pm
prerrnamirchi
I can only guess fara, the syrup might have been too thick or not warm enough to be absorbed..
July 31, 2014 at 11:59 am
Deepa
Hi Prerrna, I’ve tried the rasgulla twice n they were really good!I used nestlé cream instead of the milk mass n it worked wonderfully as well!So a big thanks for this recipe!
August 2, 2014 at 4:42 pm
prerrnamirchi
thanks deepa 🙂
November 19, 2014 at 3:19 am
Deepa.R
Helo dr,
i tried to make rasgulla the way you said and it was very tasty. now i want to try once again but to make the reduced milk mass can i add some citric juice in it and afterwards place the coagulate on a cloth to wash off the citric taste. like this it will be quicker instead of waiting for 45 min for it to become reduce to a mass.
November 22, 2014 at 8:54 pm
prerrnamirchi
thanks for the tip deepa!
April 3, 2015 at 4:07 pm
Nishita Jagarnath
wow…dats fabulouss…simple n delicious
April 24, 2015 at 7:56 am
Zaahirah
Hi I have made them,they turn up really nicely thanks! But if i skip the reduced milk will it be good?
May 3, 2015 at 7:19 pm
prerrnamirchi
I dnt know, honestly I dnt really use shortcuts when cooking/baking. If a recipe calls for hard work u can bet the end result is usually worth it 😉 So I’ll stick to reducing the milk on the stove for now!!
June 15, 2015 at 4:51 am
Yovana Gooranah
Hi,
I want to know about the recipe for rasgulla for 500g
June 26, 2015 at 4:38 pm
prerrnamirchi
sorry yovana, did not understand ur question.
October 23, 2015 at 8:43 am
kailra
hi, you have to be more precise on the measurement.the 11/2 cups is equal to how many gm
/
October 26, 2015 at 8:31 pm
prerrnamirchi
hello kailra I’m more comfortable with cup measurements. If you need metric measures please consult conversion tables found on cooking sites like http://www.taste.com.au/how+to/articles/369/weights+measurement+charts
November 7, 2015 at 3:19 am
kashmira
l have try its delicious
November 9, 2015 at 7:45 pm
prerrnamirchi
thanks kashmira!
November 10, 2015 at 10:16 am
Sureka Toolooa
hello prerna, your rasgaullas recipes seems to be very good but wah can be used to replace reducing milk to a paste. this seems to be lengthy process. can we use condensed milk or nestle cream. thanks Sureka
November 12, 2015 at 4:56 pm
prerrnamirchi
maybe u can try condensed milk. I really cnt advise u here coz I have never tried it myself.
October 11, 2016 at 4:08 pm
Bengali Roshogolla/Rasgulla | Heaven on a Spoon
[…] pride of the Eastern state of Bengal for centuries. The Bengali Rasgulla, often confused with the darker Mauritian version, is a spongy, ball-shaped sweet served as dessert in Indian restaurants. It might be tricky to […]
October 28, 2016 at 11:02 pm
Lovely
This recipe is nice but sorry I do not agree with u saying it’s a corrupted version of Indian gulab jamun. Why can’t both country have the same thing with different name? And the step you followed is nice but this is not how we make it in Mauritius.
October 29, 2016 at 5:12 am
prerrnamirchi
hello dr this is the method I have been taught and so far has been foolproof. Please feel free to share any other authentic recipe you may have so that we can all benefit from each other’s savoir-faire 🙂
March 1, 2017 at 9:17 pm
Nawsheen Nehalkhan
my syrup has crystalised after i put the rasgoullah in them do u know why this happened? so weird
March 3, 2017 at 1:44 pm
prerrnamirchi
heat from the rasgoolas might have caused the syrup to crystalise, allow to cool slightly before dipping. also remove sugar syrup from heat when ready to dip the rasgoolas in to prevent it from getting thicker.
November 8, 2019 at 8:06 pm
Reetoo Ramessur
hey guys I tried this recipe and substituted the reduced milk mass to carnation evaporated milk just because it was a quicker option and I was running out of time! It was a massive success. Everybody loved it!