Assemble all the ingredients needed for making rasgullas.
Bring 1.5 litres of milk to boil.
When it starts to boil, add 2 tbsps of lemon juice and stir the milk using a whisk so that the milk solids does not settle at the bottom.
The milk will now start to curdle. If the milk does not curdle then add another half to 1 tbsp of lemon juice.
Once you see that the chhena or paneer and whey are completely seperated, line a strainer with cheese cloth or muslin cloth and pour the curdled milk over the cheese cloth. (Do not waste the whey water as it can be used to prepare chapathi dough)
Add a bowl of ice cold water to the strained chhena and squeeze the chhena to drain as much water as possible. (This step is done to remove the sourness of the lemon juice and also to stop the chhena from cooking further.)
Alternatively, bring all the four corners of the cloth together and wash the chhena directly in running tap water.
Place a heavy weight on top of the chhena as shown in the picture or hang the chhena for the moisture to dry out for about 30-45 minutes.
Now, the chhena should not contain any moisture. At this stage, transfer the chhena or paneer to a plate and start kneading it for about 10 minutes or until it forms stiff balls and doesn't crumble when made into balls.
You can also add 1 tbsp of rava (normal or chiroti) while kneading if you feel that the chhena is falling apart when made into balls. (I didn't add sooji to it.) Alternatively, knead it for a minute or two more to make sure the balls does not crumble.
Knead the chhena with both hands and then make 15-18 balls out of it.
Meanwhile, in another heavy bottomed wide pan, add 2.5 cups white granulated sugar and 5-6 cups of water and bring it to boil.
Once you see bubbles on the top, add 1/4 tsp of cardamom powder to it. You can also add saffron strands but this is completely optional. Add it if you like the flavor it gives. Alternatively, you can use it while serving too.
Switch of the flame and add all the chhena balls to the sugar syrup and close the pan with a lid. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
Again bring the pan to flame and let the chhena balls cook in the sugar syrup for 10 minutes with the lid on in a low flame.
This is how the chhena balls double in size.
After 10 minutes switch off the flame and let it rest in the room temperature until it completely cools down.
Serve chilled.