Instructions

1. Making paneer or cheese:
2. Bring the milk to a boil in a pan. Stir it now and then to make sure it doesn't stcick to the bottom of the pan. Turn heat down to stop it from boiling over.
3. Add a little lemon juice at a time, until cheese and whey separate. Make sure it curdles fully and solids totally separate from the whey, which is a clear, bluey-green in colour. Another way to boil the milk and make sure that it does not catch is to put it in a large plastic or Pyrex type of container and microwave till it comes to a boil. Then transfer it into the stainless steel pan on the stove. Add the lemon juice once it starts to simmer.
4. Allow the pan to cool for about half an hour.
5. Place a muslin/cheese cloth on a metal colander and pour the curdled milk on it.
6. Let the whey drain off completely. Pick the corners of the muslin with paneer in it and tie it like a parcel. Wrap this parcel within thick layers of a newspaper. Place on a kitchen counter/drainer board of the sink and weigh down with something heavy ? like a large container full of grains or water. Let it sit for 2.5 to 3 hours until most of the moisture in the paneer has been absorbed by the newspaper. The paneer should not be crumbly but slightly moist and soft.
7. Making syrup:
8. Bring water and sugar to a boil in a pressure cooker. Turn heat off and keep aside.
9. Making rasgullas:
10. Place the paneer on a flat surface and knead it rubbing between the heals of both your hands, until very smooth, like a paste. This takes about 5-8 minutes.
11. Take approximately 1 full teaspoon of the paneer at a time and roll into a small ball, about 2 1/2 cm. in diameter. They swell up during cooking to almost double, so don't make them too large. This amount of paneer should make around 20 balls which will fit with ease in a 9" diameter pressure cooker, without pressing against one another and have enough room to expand.
12. Bring syrup in the pressure cooker to boil again and add cheese balls to it gently. If you are making a larger number of rasgullas, cook them separately, using fresh syrup each time. The key here is to make sure that the balls which have already been cooked should always be submersed in the syrup.
13. Close the pressure cooker lid and after the first whistle (as described in India) or a hiss or as soon as pressure builds up, lower the heat to medium and cook for another 5 minutes.
14. Turn the heat off. Let the pressure cooker cool for 10-15 minutes.
15. Open the lid and lift out rasgullas gently, one by one, into a bowl.
16. Strain the syrup, add rose water and pour on top of rasgullas. Straining the syrup is done to remove any broken bits of paneer or other solids from the syrup.
17. Chill in a fridge in a container with a tight lid as the paneer absorbs all kinds of smells fairly quickly.
18. Serve chilled. In some parts of Bengal, they are eaten hot, but I feel that they taste best cold. For the best taste and sponginess, leave the rasgullas out at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before serving
19. Optional: crush a few saffron strands in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of sugar and add to the sugar syrup when adding the paneer balls.