Kesar Rajbhog

Rajbhog is a delectable dessert from North India.You might have observed recently a badge in my space stating member of Sweet Fantasy Club. Yes you guessed it right, I love sweets and hence immedietely expressed my willingnesss to join this group when Preeti Garg asked me. The challenge here is in the beginning of the month two desserts, one Indian and another international will be revealed. We are having solid 20 days to prepare them and put them up here on two days, i.e 21st and 22nd of every month for that corresponding month's challenge. Interesting isn't it? Yes,I was so happy when the challenge for this month was revealed. I'm a big sweet lover and hence joined. This month we got Kesar Rajbhog in Indian Dessert and Hot Chocolate Fudge in international dessert. I have tried Rajbhog and I'm here with many cautions and tips as I have faced few problems when I prepared it the first time. I actually followed same recipe of rasgulla to prepare this and hence used a pressure cooker. But as rajbhog involves stuffing inside we never know when it gets cooked if in pressure cooker. Hence the 1st time I prepared it was a big flop with all the rajbhogs fully broken. I had prepared 10 and in that 10, one was without stuffing. That one rasgulla was fabulous which indicated that my Rasgulla recipe is a keeper one. the pressure cooker recipe of rasgulla never fails if followed correctly. But for rajbhog never ever try cooking in pressure cooker. Secondly a thin boiling and bubbling sugar syrup will help the rajbhog cook well. If thick it will turn hard and also the syrup will not reach deep inside.Well stories apart here I share the recipe the way I prepared. I will tell few tips in the notes section. So read till the end.

Recipe ideas from ZKhanaKhazana, Sanjeev Kapoor's Rajbhog recipe and Tarla Dalal Recipe for Rajbhog
Ingredients:
Chenna/Paneer- 1 cup
Sugar-2 1/2 cups
Water-4 cups
Cardamom-2-3 pods
Kesar/Saffron-12-15 strands
Dry fruits (cashewnuts, blanched almonds, raisins, apricots)- 1/2 cup
Warm Milk-1 tbsp

Recipe:

1. Take the dry fruits in a blender.
2. Grind them to a thick paste with dough like texture adding milk.
3. Make balls out of the dryfruits paste.
4. Get ready with home made soft paneer.
5. Knead well the paneer till it is soft for around 15 minutes or alternatively assign the task to a food processor.
6. Pinch out balls off the chenna.
7. Place one ball on the palm.
8. Add a saffron strand.
9. Place the dry fruits ball prepared.
10. Fold in gently to form a smooth ball with the stuffing.
11. Prepare sugar syrup by adding 1 cup sugar, crushed cardamom pods, remaining saffron strands to 3 cups water and bring it to a boil. Drop it into the boiling and bubbling sugar syrup.
12. Keep boiling another cup of water in another pan.
13. Pour it using a spoon every minute on top of the rajbhog in the bubbling sugar syrup.
14. Cook for 10-12 minutes and then set aside. Remove them off into a plate and add remaining sugar to the solution left behind to prepare a sugar syrup to soak the rajbhog. Once  the sugar syrup comes to boil, remove it off the flame. Set aside and soak them in the syrup.
15. Cool and serve.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

1. Never use a pressure cooker to cook as you never know when the balls get cooked.
2. Never let the sugar syrup turn too thick when you are cooking the rajbhog as that will not let them cook well and also the balls may turn hard.
3. Make use of home made soft paneer or soft chenna for making them.
4. Kneading the chenna/paneer plays an important role in the preparation of a perfect rajbhog. So donot skip that.
5. Make use of any desired dry fruits.
 

Enjoy the dish! n don't forget Eat and Eat little MORE.. :)

Sending this to Cook With White by Merry Tummy.