Monday, November 15, 2010

Rosogollar Payesh -- the shortest cut


If you have known me for the last four years of my blogging, you must have realized by now that I am not-really "a-from-scratch" kind of person and take shortcuts if there is one. I mean I will not take a detour and heat frozen dinners when I cook for the kids or when I try to pack a healthy lunch or put dinner on the table but I will take a jump over the stream if there is one.

Like I mostly buy organic baby carrots instead of the regular sized ones which demands peeling and then chopping. I tend towards buying canned beans instead of the dry which needs pre-soaking. I will invariably lean to buy a box of clean baby spinach instead of the fresh green large leafed bunch. I will tend to over sleep and avoid the "what to have for Saturday b'fast" routine.

Ok, as I write, it dawns on me that the above points more towards me being lazy than anything else. So we won't discuss it any more. Period.

But I must admit that blogging has improved me a lot and I now no longer use off the shelf masala except for Pav Bhaji Masala, Deggi Mirch, Kashmiri Mirch, Kitchen king, Amchoor,...., ok that is getting long. But hey, I am not buying Garam Masala and making Biryani Masala from scratch. That counts.

And what about Ghee ? Come on, I make Ghee. So what if it is from sticks of store bought butter and made only quarterly and everyone except the baby is shunned from eating it to make it last longer.

I also try to bake totally from scratch now, with flour and eggs and frozen butter which never ever is at room temperature. Sometimes I just want to take a box of Betty Crocker and bake one of those totally delicious cakes with minimum effort and say "Ta-da". The family actually loved those more than what I spawn out now and I know they would be eternally grateful if I went back to Betty. But I have a blog where such stuff is looked down upon and I need to live up or down to it.

But even I have to draw a line somewhere.


And you all know that I am "oh so busy" .That I don't even have time to gulp my tea back from work. Yeah, tea is important, much more than ghee.That I volunteer as a chauffeur 3 nights a week and then a tutor , a washing lady, a very uninterested game player, a lousy story teller, a cook and odd job doer.

Those are fun jobs and I am really glad I have them. So as long as I have them, I am not buying me a cow, milking it, making paneer out of it and making my own rasgulla. No siree, no rosogolla from scratch. One fine day I might or not, we shall see. Honestly, even without any of those extra jobs I doubt my finesse and expertise in making things like rasgulla. So I will just open a can of syrupy rasgullas and make a Rosogollar Payesh as I have always done.

This I made not for Diwali but for Bhai Phota or Bhai Duj which comes two days after. My little girls have littler brothers to give phota and we try to celebrate this occasion every year. Not that the little ones are interested in such Rosgollar payesh, they would rather have cake or a lollipop as is the case for LS.

But Bengalis have a tradition of making Payesh on important occasions, kind of like Turkey on Thanksgiving.Only for Bongs, the occasion arises 1 x n times every year. Do I thank my stars that the Bong fore fathers chose Payesh and not Turkey...pheww.

This Rosogollar Payesh is one easy dessert to make and can be made couple of days ahead. It is best when served chilled and also thickens when a day old, a fact I adore.


Read more...







Rosogollar Payesh

In a deep thick bottomed pan add
1 can of evaporated milk
2-2&1/2 can of Whole Milk(use same can as Evaporated milk to measure)

Bring the above to a boil. Be careful so that it doesn't spill over.

Now add 1/2 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk to above and mix well. You can use sugar instead of C. Milk. Also depending on your sweet tooth, increase/decrease amount of C. Milk.

Add some ground cardamom.

Keep stirring at medium heat for 30-35 minutes till the milk thickens. You need to stir frequently or the milk tends to scald the bottom of the pan.

When the milk is at a consistency where it is pourable but thicker than what you started with, add a few drops of rose water and a generous pinch of saffron. Give a stir and switch off heat.

Meanwhile open a can of rasgulla/rosogolla. I had KC Das, you can use Haldiram or any good brand. Pick a rosgolla from the can using a spoon or your thumb and forefinger, give it a light squeeze to get little of the syrup out. In a serving bowl, arrange the rasgulla/rosgolla. I had about 15-18 rasgullas. Pour the warm thickened milk over the rasgullas so that the balls are soaked in milky goodness.Note: If your rasgullas are super sized, halve them, it is best to get a can of standard sized rasgullas though.

Alternately add the rasgulla/roshogolla to the pan of milk and simmer for about 30secs to a minute. This makes the rasgulla softer even with less time for soaking.

For a non-messy tip of squeezing rasgulla check Nupur's version of Rasmalai.

Chill and serve.


31 comments:

  1. When it come to desset with milk i am not a huge fan, unless if it is fatty cream ;-) here hubby and S would love it though. They love milky desserts.

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  2. You have tickled my sweet tooth ....... I wish I could get the entire bowl :)

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  3. Sounds lovely, will have to try... maybe for thxgiving :) Did you bring the KC Das from Kolkata or is it available in NJ?

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  4. Sue

    Got it from Kolkata. Don't think is available here. The Haldiram is of course

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  5. Irresistible dessert, tickling my sweet tooth..

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  6. Rasgulla looks divine. Very inviting..

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  7. I don't think I would call you lazy. I would call u smart.

    A would love this. I was never fond of payesh.I do not make roshogolla from scratch anymore. the canned ones work as good.

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  8. Can I eat that whole pot please. I am just drooling all over it. Loving the virtual treat !!!

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  9. That bowl of Rosogoolar Payesh is so delectable and alive. Just yesterday I was talking to my Mum in law and was telling her how my Mum would make Rasmalai with these store-bought Rosogollas. And nobody would know.

    You know one time I got the Haldiram Rasgulla can home from the Indian store here, khullam toh chamcham berolo. :-(

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  10. It looks heavenly and it is not made from scratch works best for me.

    Where you kidding when you said you made ghee from sticks of butter? That is from scratch in my dictionary. Oh you mean get cream from yogurt and then churn to get butter and then make ghee? Seriously Sandeepa :)

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  11. Wow this sounds and looks totally yummy

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  12. I lack the proverbial sweet tooth that all good bongs have but this rocks. Will be on this weekend for sure. Thanks.

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  13. The only sweet I love are rasgullas. I can never try from scratch because I found the can one is "Best" so why to sweat. I tried to bake once with the Ricotta cheese but didn't liked the texture :( I love ur payesh
    Hope u had a Happy diwali!

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  14. I've seen this with smaller rasgullas in the sweet store here, it doesn't look as thick or yellow - it's white and thin.

    The other day when I made semiya payasam it actually occurred to me to coat the semiya with ghee and MW it rather than pan-roast it - I was so proud of myself!

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  15. I love sweet dishes specially rasgolla and sandesh..Your picture looks very inviting..

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  16. Hi,
    Came back to your blog after a really long time. I just adore rasgullas and when it comes to rasogollar payesh, I am a die hard fan :).
    I prepared the rasgullar payesh sometime back and used the custard powder for an additional flavoring agent. Please do have a look at the preparation .

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  17. Am not a ' making-from-scratch' person myself, and I totally love this! Bookmarked.

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  18. You are very funny! I like the humour. And the recipe.

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  19. I can relate myself with you somewhere when it comes to all those ready to use thingies. Life is more than grinding masalas :)
    Love the Rosogollar Payesh.

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  20. I've made rasgullas from scratch,and rasmalai too, from fresh milk, in my far away youth. Now that I live in Kolkata, no point in even trying!
    I really love your posts, Sandeepa- wish we could have met while you were
    here. Please mail me next time!
    Lots of love and hugs to you and your girls.

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  21. Hi Sandeepa,

    My comment has nothing to do with the rosogollas..though they do look delicious. I had actually posted this comment under pui shaag, but I guess it didn't reach you. Anyway, here it is again. Looking forward to ur reply:

    NP said...

    I've never really figured out when to put in white oil and when to use mustard oil while cooking Bong dishes. Is there a rule of thumb that you know of? Please let me know, because this topic has spawned a lot of "healthy discussions" between me and my better half :)

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  22. I totally agree on your post. Sometimes the short cut is the best way to go. And even though there are times you want to do things from scratch , such recipes are saver for the times you just cant! Beautiful dessert! Its same as ras malai right?

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  23. Hi Sandeepa, tried this rosogollar payesh sterday and enjoyed a lot, thanks for sharing,just blogged in my space, do have a look..

    http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/11/rosogollar-payesh.html

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  24. its almost like rasmalai:) looks divine!

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  25. Wow..all ur dishes are great..i am keeping a food blog too..from ur recipes i tried the bread dahi vada and shukto..they turned out good..now i am dying to try sm desserts..check my blog too..
    Ambrotos.blogspot.com

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  26. Most of your recipes (out of 5 or 6 that I tried) turned out well except the mutton curry which missed the flavour of robibarer mangshor jhol. The recipe seemed perfect but the timings most probably went wrong. Would you try to measure approx. times with details like slow-medium or medium heat and provide some relief to some bong who is neither a mom nor a cook? About this particular recipe I would have almost sued you for copying me. As some post said you're smart certainly not lazy.
    Shibashis Bandopadhyay.
    Gujarat.

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  27. I have so bookmarked this recipe, Sandeepa. Thanks for the link and the idea. I don't think I have used condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk in the same recipe, but I got a good idea reading yours!

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  28. I have been looking for sites like this for a long time. Thank you!

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