"Rasgulla" is a famous Indian dessert, originating from the east. The word rasgulla is made up of two words, "ras" meaning syrup, and "gulla" meaning ball. It is a perfect dessert for festivals like Holi, Diwali, or any special occasion.
There are different ways to make rasgulla, by cooking in boiling sugar and water syrup, in a pressure cooker, or in an Instant Pot. I make rasgulla in Instant Pot as it is a much easier process and results in soft and spongy rasgullas.
Ingredients
Rasgulla is made from 3 ingredients, homemade paneer balls are cooked in sweet sugar and water syrup.
2% milk works better than the full cream or whole milk for making the rasgullas. The reason is that paneer from full cream or whole milk has more fat content due to which small globules of fat ('ghee') can form on the syrup after refrigeration. So I recommend 2% milk for making the paneer.
I have tried various ratios of sugar and water for the sugar syrup and have settled with a 2:5 ratio of sugar and water when cooking rasgulla in the Instant Pot. Depending on your taste you can change the ratio by reducing the amount of water to make sweeter rasgullas.
Instructions
First I make the paneer at home to make rasgullas, then knead it well, make small balls and pressure cook them in the Instant Pot.
Step 1: Make paneer
Paneer is made by boiling milk in the Instant Pot by selecting "Yogt" button until it shows boil. Once done, it is curdled with vinegar and then the milk solids are strained and rinsed under water to get rid of any sourness.
Squeeze out water from the paneer by applying some weight for about 2 hours. I also refrigerate the paneer for 6-8 hours to make it more firm. Here is the link to my detailed recipe on how to make paneer in the Instant Pot.
Paneer must be firm but have a little moisture too, otherwise, the rasgulla will become chewy.
Step 2: Knead paneer
The next important step is to knead the paneer to make it like a soft dough. It can be kneaded manually by hand or in the food processor, which is faster.
To knead the paneer in a food processor press the pulse option, intermittently till it feels smooth, and soft and does not stick to the palm while making a ball. This should take 2-5 minutes or more depending on your food processor.
Step 3: Make paneer balls
Divide paneer into smaller pieces (11-12 grams each) to form balls. A digital food scale comes in handy in weighing correctly.
Make smooth round balls of about an inch in diameter by rolling each paneer piece in between the palms with slight pressure.
Step 4: Pressure cook rasgulla in Instant Pot
Making the rasgullas in an Instant Pot is a breeze. About 10-12 rasgullas can be cooked at a time as adding more will not have enough room to expand and they may stick to each other. To cook the rasgullas, just add the sugar, water, and the paneer balls and close the lid.
Select the High Pressure setting for 12 minutes followed by natural pressure release. The rasgullas will be ready and be almost double in volume. Optionally, the same syrup can be used to cook the next batch of paneer balls by removing the cooked rasgullas from the Instant Pot in a bowl along with a little syrup.
Serving suggestions
Once the rasgullas are cooked, transfer them all to a bigger bowl along with the syrup, let it cool, and then refrigerate for about 4-6 hours. It is best to serve chilled along with a few tablespoons of syrup in the serving bowl. A few drops of rose water can be added to give it a nice aroma. Some even prefer eating it along with ice cream.
Equipment
I make the rasgullas in my 3-quart Instant Pot. It takes less water and sugar compared to making in a 6 or 8 quart since there must be at least 2 inches of syrup in the pot for the rasgullas to roll and boil.
You may also like this Instant Pot ras malai recipe and other Instant Pot Indian dessert recipes.
Storage
Rasgulla can be stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Rasgulla can be left at room temperature for 10-12 hours but if you want to preserve them longer then it is best to refrigerate them.
FAQ
How to make spongy rasgulla?
After several attempts and experimentation over the years, I have concluded that the secret to making perfect spongy rasgullas is getting the paneer right and kneading it well. Hence, I prefer making it myself at home with milk and vinegar.
How to make rasgulla white?
The type of sugar used determines the color of sugar syrup and rasgullas. Using organic cane sugar will yield off-white rasgullas and syrup. White sugar can be used to make the rasgullas and syrup white, just like you get outside.
Don't forget to check out these Indian dessert recipes made in the instant pot
- Rasmalai
- Cham cham
- Vermicelli pudding
- Rice pudding (kheer)
- Dudhi halwa
- Kalakand
- Mishti doi (sweet yogurt)
Don't forget to rate the recipe by clicking the stars. Also, pin the recipe by clicking the "Pin" button, for your future reference.
📖 Recipe
Rasgulla in Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ gallon Milk preferably 2 percent milk
- 4 tablespoon Vinegar
- 1 cup Organic cane sugar
- 2 ½ cup Water
Instructions
Making Paneer
- Add Milk to instant pot container and select "Yogurt" setting till it shows "Boil"
- Once milk is boiled, stir in the vinegar and wait for about 5 minutes. Rinse the paneer under cold running water and squeeze out excess water.
- Wrap the paneer in cheese cloth and apply weight for about 2 hours to remove excess water.
- For detailed instructions to make paneer, refer my blog on How to make Paneer in Instant Pot.
Making Rasgullas
- Preferably refrigerate the home made paneer for a few hours or even a day.
- Knead the paneer using food processor by applying intermittent pulses for about a minute. The paneer will become soft and will be like a soft dough ball.
- Remove the paneer from food processor and make a smooth ball by rolling in your palms.
- Make about 10 balls, about 11-12 gms each or around an inch in diameter.
- Pour sugar, water and paneer balls in the instant pot and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes in sealing position.
- Let the pressure release naturally and then open the instant pot lid.
- Transfer the rasgullas in a bowl along with little syrup.
- If additional paneer is there then make additional balls and drop in the instant pot in the same sugar syrup.
- Cook on high pressure for 12 minutes in sealing position followed by NPR.
- Transfer all rasgullas and sugar syrup in the bowl.
- Let it cool down and then refrigerate.
Notes
- To make paneer for Rasgullas 2 percent milk is preferred (do not use ultra-pasteurized milk)
- While making paneer, do not use fresh lime juice as the fiber strands from limes might stay in the paneer even after rinsing.
- Squeeze out water from the paneer by wrapping it in a cheesecloth and applying weight for about 2 hours. After that you can refrigerate for a day to help making it firm.
- Paneer must have some moisture else the rasgullas can turn out rubbery and chewy.
- I use organic cane sugar so the rasgullas are off white in color, using white sugar will result in white rasgullas.
Also, checkout my recipe on how to make Rasmalai in Instant pot, you won't need rasgullas to make it!
Sheila says
I've never heard of Rasgullas. How do you eat them? Are they a desert?
Can this be made with non-dairy nut milk?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Sheila,
Rasgulla is an Indian dessert made with homemade paneer. They have a spongy texture. Rasgulla is served chilled with a few spoons of syrup. 2 rasgulla is a good serving size. They are usually cut into halves with a spoon and eaten with a little syrup. I have not tried it with non-dairy nut milk and I am doubtful that it can be made.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Ekta Rajoria says
Hi, can we use fresh paneer bought from sweet shops ? Here in middle east the milk we get is ultra pasturised and homogenised so the paneer doesn't turn out good.
Thanks
Alpa Jain says
Hi Ekta,
I have not tried with store-bought fresh paneer. However, I think it should work. Make sure you knead the paneer well. It should feel smooth and soft after kneading. Also, you can just try making a few first before making a bigger batch.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Pritha says
hi. thanks so much for tips and tricks. I would t say I had perfect rasgullas. there are some kinks to be solved. got everything perfect until the chenna balls were made with no crack. pro alen came in after using instapot on high pressure for 12 min and NPR. The balls all got stuck to each other and I separated them with spoon and fork.
problem is that the taste a bit chewy and rubbery. the dough was fine, I also let chenna drain over night.
not able to figure out why it ended up being chewy and rubbery. can you advise.
thanks again 🙏🏼
Alpa Jain says
Hi Pritha,
Did you use ultra pasteurized milk to make paneer? In case you did, please use regular 2 % milk to make paneer.
From what you have mentioned, you drained paneer over night, did you put weight on it all the time? I suspect that is the issue. You need to drain the paneer only for 2-3 hours. Draining it overnight would make it very dry and void of moisture. This can make chewy and rubbery rasgullas.
As a tip, next time just drop 2-3 paneer balls in the syrup and cook them and work from there until you get perfect rasgullas.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Regards
Alpa
Hansa says
I never had any success making rasgullas . Saw this recipe , So I thought why not ! I only use 2% milk and had milk in fridge so made whole gallon worth Paneer. I kept in fridge overnight. This morning I dusted my insta pot and got food processor out. Could not decide which blade to use metal one or plastic one ! Well tried plastic dough blade for one min but Paneer was like a fine powder so used metal blade for another min ,still Paneer looked the same. Made one inch balls , turns out I had 24 ! Since I have 8 quart pot so I double up sugar syrup and added the ball. Looked like I still need more water on top so I added one more cup of water and eyeball about 1/3 cup of sugar in it. After cooking on high pressure I waited patiently. When I opened the pot I almost screamed with joy ...They all double up in size and filled the whole pot. I definitely put too many rasgullas ,they stuck to each other slightly but they were perfect !!!
Thank you so much for fool proof recipe, I will definitely make Again.
CulinaryShades says
Hi Hansa,
Thanks for the feedback and glad to know you had success making rasgullas with this recipe. You can also check out my equally easy rasmalai recipe.
Also, you can follow me on Facebook to be updated about my new recipes - https://www.facebook.com/CulinaryShades
Regards
Alpa
Bikhipta Panda says
Tried your recipe. Quick question. Do the rasgullas expand in size...? I didn’t feel they did.
Taste wise they turned out good though. Please let me know. Thanks
CulinaryShades says
Hi Bikhipta,
Yes they do expand as shown in the pics in the blog. Did you do low pressure?
Regards
Alpa
Meena says
Looking yummy 😋
Sanku Saha says
First of all, thank you for sharing all the details . The recipe is very methodical with all nitty gritty details. Have one small issue, when I opened the lid, i found rasgollas are sticking with each other. I had to use a spoon to take them apart. Also, they are not perfectly round. Any thoughts? Expect 3 qt I used 6 qt. Also, I doubled the water and cooked 11 balls altogether. Any tips? Should I use 6 balls at a time?
Thanks in advance
CulinaryShades says
Hi Sanku,
Thankyou for the feedback. I have never encountered rasgullas sticking, were they sticking too much that it would not separate easily? I think there could be some extra moisture in the paneer which could cause it.
If using 6 qt, I would definitely make about 18-20 rasgullas depending on the size, only need to ensure that the syrup is about 2 inches in height for paneer ball size of an inch. If the ball size is bigger then the syrup must be increased. They may not be perfectly round but close to round.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Sanku Saha says
Thank you so much Alpa for your quick response. It was not sticking too much. I used a spoon ti take them out. Now, I remember while making the balls, i used to have white layer on my palm. Maybe I had to knead paneer in mixer for about 2 minutes , while I did it for 1 minute. My family and I are absolutely fine with the taste, shaoe doesn't matter much. Waiting for buying a 3 qt Instant pot during Thanksgiving.
Best regards
Janani says
It didnot double. My paneer was so good. In the syrup it duxnot even get big
Alpa Jain says
Hi Janani,
Sorry to hear that the rasgullas did not get big. There could be multiple factors to cause this.
1) Please ensure you are using high pressure mode.
2) Can you please confirm if you made paneer using my recipe or some other way?
3) Also, what type of milk did you use? Please do not use ultra pasteurized milk to make paneer.
4) For perfect rasgullas, paneer must feel soft and smooth after kneading and not stick to the palm when you make balls.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Alpa
Suman says
Making Rasogulla made simple. Nice.
sujit arvind says
Great 👍
Meena says
Looking yummy 😋