Name: Baked Rasgulla in Rabdi (from scratch)
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 litre milk; Add 2 tbsp khandsari sugar when warm; 1/4 tsp edible rose water; 1/2 litre milk; 2 cups water; 1/2 cup khandsari sugar / unrefined sugar; 1/4 tsp cornflour; 1.5 tbsp Khandsari sugar or unrefined sugar

I had the opportunity to enjoy some of the best dishes while I was working in Marine Lines, Mumbai. ( I did not know how to cook then and did not care much about healthy eating) There were some which were a staple whenever I had visitors at home.

There was a Bengali sweet shop at a walking distance from my apartment. The owner made sweets fresh but in limited quantities.

I loved his version of rasgulla in rabdi which was baked from top forming a burnt layer which lend beautiful caramel taste to the whole mithai. The problem was he used to make only 2 to 3 servings in a day. So the order had to be placed well in advance. Sharing below his picture of baked rasgulla (source: internet)

Over the years my love for sweets changed its nature ...from eating to preparing. Yesterday my cousin forwarded me a video of a street vendor who sells yummy rabdi rasgulla which reminded me of the bengali shop wala baked rasgulla. I was super tempted to try it.

Since we had leftovers from lunch , I just made the dessert. Rabdi and Rasgulla were made from scratch using 1 litre and 1/2 litre milk respectively. It was then baked for the burnt caramel flavour. The dish was heaven in a bowl .

And I forwarded baked rasgulla pic to my cousin( which didn't do much justice to the dish) and he was envious that I was already enjoying the dish !

The rasgullas are angoori style ( small ) and are very juicy and spongy. The rabdi is authentic style and the crunch of the baked caramel of the top provided great texture to the mithai.

This dish can be made ahead a day before too in case you are expecting guests and is a perfect binge for your cravings. This tastes best when served cold. Also teh caramel layer will thicken upon cooling in refrigerator. However, we did not have the patience and digged in after these came out of the oven and burnt our mouths!

AuthorRitika NarulaCategoryBaking, Indian Mithai, Recipe, SweetDifficultyIntermediate

A mouthwatering sweet from Bengal Rasgulla in Rabdi and baked for rich caramel crust

Yields4 Servings

Prep Time1 hrCook Time1 hrTotal Time2 hrs

For Rabdi:-

1 litre milk

Add 2 tbsp khandsari sugar when warm

1/4 tsp edible rose water

For Rasgulla:-

1/2 litre milk

2 cups water

1/2 cup khandsari sugar / unrefined sugar

1/4 tsp cornflour

For the bake :-

1.5 tbsp Khandsari sugar or unrefined sugar

For the Rabdi

Boil 1 litre milk in a kadhai. Simmer while stirring continuously till the the milk is reduced by around 1/3rd of the original quantity and looks granulated. (Make a thick rabdi as baking will make it thin later).

Remove from fire and let it cool a bit. Once it is warm (not hot), add khandsari sugar to it and mix well.

Now add rose water to it. Mix well and keep aside.

For the Rasgulla

Take a milk in a vessel and bring it to boil.

Turn off the flame once it is boiled. Take lemon juice in a bowl and mix with equal amount of water.

After a minute or so after boiling, add lemon juice and water mixture 1 tbsp a time.

If it doesn't curdle fully, add more lemon juice and water till the whey is separated from the milk.

Take a muslin/cheese cloth and strain the liquid from the curdled milk /cheena.

Pour fresh water on top of cheena to remove extra sourness of lemons.

Take the cheena in muslin cloth to remove excess liquid. Wait for 15-20 minutes.

Take cheena in the plate. We want moist (not dry ) or too liquidy cheena here.

Using palms smoothen the cheena a few times. See pictures.

Add corn flour and smoothen it again using pressure of palms.

Do this a couple of minutes till it is crack free.

Form a long log of cheena.

Divide into small pieces.

Make a smooth crack free ball. Here we are making angoori or small rasgulla

Keep aside the smooth balls.

Take water and khandsari sugar in a wok/wide kadhai.

Keep it on high flame and let the sweetener dissolve fully. Stir a few times.

It will be fully dissolved in some time and boiling well.

Add one cheena ball. Keep flame on high. The sugar syrup should be boiling all the time while making rasgulla.

Drop second rasgulla after the first

Then drop the third one.

Drop them one by one.

Keep flame on high and let them cook covered .

Boil around a cup of water in a separate vessel. After 3 minutes open the lid, Stir the rasgullas. By now rasgullas must have started getting bigger

Add a tbsp or 2 of the boiling water to the sugar syrup in which rasgullas are cooking on a high flame. This prevents the sugar syrup from being thick and help rasgulla cook thoroughly.

Again after 4 minutes open lid and stir rasgullas and add boiling water 2 tbsp to 3 tbsp to thin out sugarr syrup. (Please add boiling water to maintain the temperature of sugar syrup)

Repeat the above step one more time.

Switch off gas after 15 minutes. Remove lid. The rasgullas will have become thrice their size.

Place ice cubes in a bowl add sugar syrup in it.

Now add rasgullas in iced sugar syrup and let the cool.

Preheat oven at 200 degree C for 10 minutes

In a oven safe bowl, add one layer of rabdi. Now place 3 to 4 rasgullas on top of this rabdi.

Add 1 more layer of rabdi. Top with rasgullas

Keep layering rabdi and rasgulla till all of it is finished.

Lastly sprinkle 1 tbsp of khandsari sugar on top and spread it well.

Place the bowl in the top rack of oven and bake at 200 degree C for 15 to 20 minutes.

Brown spots will start forming on top of bubbling rabdi. The sugar will caramelize on top and form brown, burnt color.

Remove from the oven when color gets deep on top.

Let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Be careful rasgulla will be very very hot and can burn your mouth . Serve as it is or refrigerator and serve cool. They taste better when cooled.

NOTES-

(1) Serve Cold for best tase
(2) Use full fat milk for rabdi
(3) Can use cow's milk for the dish too
(4) Please keep thinning the sugar syrup with boiling water for through cooking of the rasgullas.
(5) the sweetener used here is unrefined sugar or desi khand or khandsari and the sweetener is just enough not to make this dessert/ mithai too sweet.
(6) If you do not have Khand , feel free to replace with other sweetener of choice.

Ingredients