Just a couple days ago, a friend shared a message with me on Whatsapp that was full of Diwali recipes and easy ways to burn the calories gained by eating them. Since I am not selfish, I will share the recipes and the easy and fun work outs to burn the calories to stay happy and stay fit.

When we talk about Bengali mithai, mishti doi wins the race for me with rusgulla getting a very close second number. This white spongy springy sweet is just another way to enjoy the goodness of milk. Just so you know, it is rich in calcium and protein which gives you another reason to enjoy them. For a long time, I thought that rusgulla can only be purchased from shops and it is absolutely impossible to make it at home until this very nice friend of mine decided to share the recipe with me. I am even more nice to share the recipe with you and not taking the secret to my grave. The best part about rusgulla is that it does not contain any ghee or oil to add the extra calories.

Ingredients

1-liter whole milk

1/2 cup curd (or 2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar too, but with yogurt they smell and taste perfect)

1-liter ice cold water or 1 cup of ice cubes

1 and 1/2 cups sugar

2 and 1/4 cups water

1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

1/2 teaspoon rose water

Few saffron stands for garnishing

Recipe

Bring the milk to a boil, pour the yogurt or diluted lemon juice in it and mix. If using lemon juice dilute 2 tbsp juice with 2 tbsp water.

Let the milk curdle. Switch off the stove and leave it for 2 mins. If the milk doesn’t curdle in 2 to 3 mins, add some more yogurt while the milk is still boiling.

Add ice cubes or chilled water to the curdled milk. Leave it aside for 2 to 3 minutes

Filter and collect the chhenna in a cheese cloth or muslin cloth.

Rinse the cheese under running water if you have used lemon juice or vinegar to curdle. This will help to remove the lemony or vinegary taste.

Tie up the cloth and hang it for 45 mins and let the excess water drain. Chhenna should not have any whey in it.

Add sugar and water to a wide pan or pot, bring it to a boil

Knead the chhenna well and make a smooth dough out of it. Take small portions of this and roll to small balls.

They should be small and not too big.

Boil water in a deep pan and add sugar to it. Now add cardamom powder and rose water.

Let the sugar syrup boil, add the chhenna balls one after the other gently.

Cover the pot with a lid and cook for 10 mins on a medium high flame.

Gently stir every 3 minutes to ensure even cooking and puffing. They double in size when done.

Let them cool.

Serve and enjoy.

Health Benefits

Rusgulla is not deep fried, rather it is not even roasted. Thus, it does not add empty calories to your food.

It is completely made of milk thus it contains all the goodness of milk that too in concentrated form.

Calorie Meter

One piece of rasgulla contains 125 calories.

Calorie Burning

The best way to burn the calories gained by enjoying rusgulla is performing 15 minutes of step aerobics for each piece of rasgulla you consume. Easy, isn't it?

So enjoy each and every bite into each and every piece of rasgulla and have fun with the step aerobics next morning. I say how about savouring a piece while performing the exercise, sounds fun, doesn’t it? After all I love rusgulla, I love aerobics and above all I love step aerobics. What is your excuse to enjoy rusgulla?