Rasgulla

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Rasagolla

Rasgulla (Oriya: Rasagolla; Bangla: রসগোল্লা Rôshogolla [ˈrɔʃoˌgolːa]; Hindi: Rasgulla) is a syrupy dessert of Orissa and Bengal.

1 Ingredients
2 Preparation
3 History
4 Variations
5 Derivatives
6 See also
7 External links
8 References

[edit] Ingredients

Chenna, Semolina, Sugar

[edit] Preparation

It is prepared by kneading chhena (casein) lightened with a small amount of semolina, and rolling them into small balls. These are then boiled in a light sugar syrup until the syrup permeates the balls.

[edit] History

The original Oriya rasagollas tend to be cream-colored.

The rasagolla was invented in the state of Orissa, where it has been a traditional sweet dish for centuries.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]. Arguably, the best rasagollas in Orissa are made by the Kar brothers, the descendants of a local confectioner, Bikalananda Kar, in the town of Salepur, near Cuttack.^[5] Another variant of this dish that is made in the town of Pahala, located between the cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, is also very popular locally.^[6] One theory pinpoints the origin of the rasagolla to the town of Puri in coastal Orissa, where it is a traditional offering to the local deities.^[7]^[8]

The recipe for making rasagollas eventually spread from Orissa to neighbouring West Bengal. This was during the Bengal renaissance when brahmin cooks from Orissa, especially from Puri, were routinely employed in richer Bengali households. They were famed for their culinary skills and commonly referred to as Ude Thakurs (Oriya brahmin-cooks). As a result, many Oriya delicacies got incorporated into the Bengali kitchen.^[9] It is widely believed that in 1868, Nobin Chandra Das of Bagbazar, Kolkata, modified the original recipe to extend the shelf life of the highly perishable sweet and make it marketable. This modification made the rasagolla somewhat spongier and tougher and also, as some maintain, compromised on the dish's taste. Nevertheless, Das earned the sobriquet, "rasagolla's Columbus" within local circles. His son, K. C. Das started canning rasagollas leading to their even wider availability. These became known as the sponge rasagollas. Another Bengali claim credits a certain Haradhan Maira for the recipe's introduction in Bengal in place of Nobin Chandra Das.

Eventually the popularity of rasagollas spread to all other parts of India. Although traditionally sold inside clay pots in Orissa and sometimes in Bengal, sponge rasagollas in cans have become popular nowadays. Canned rasagollas are available throughout India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as in South Asian grocery stores in Britain and North America. They are marketed not only by K. C. Das and (more recently) the Kar brothers, but also by several other Indian sweet makers from places such as Bikaner and Delhi.

[edit] Variations

Rasagollas are usually served at room temperature or colder. However modern Indian households also tend to serve them chilled. The Pahala variant of Orissa is perhaps unusual in being one that is served piping hot.^[6]

In Bengal, kheermohan refers to a bigger version of rasagolla, whereas in Orissa, where rasagollas are generally larger in size, the words kheermohan and rasagolla are used more interchangeably.

In Orissa, it is not uncommon to embed a single raisin or cashew inside each rasagolla. Elsewhere, a single cardamom seed is embedded to give a fragrant variant. In northern India, the dish also comes flavored in saffron, rosewater, and sometimes garnished with chopped pistachios.

In Bengal, there is a jaggery variety of Rasagolla which is available during festivities.

[edit] Derivatives

Rasagolla was the first of the syrupy Indian cheese desserts. It became the precursor for many other Bengali and Oriya delicacies, such as rasmalai, raskadam, chamcham, pantua, malai chop, and kheersagar. Rasagolla, along with chhena gaja and chhena poda, forms the classic Oriya trinity of chhena desserts. In Bengal, rasagolla and a variety of other chhena sweets such as sondesh, are collectively referred to as Bengali sweets.

Kamalabhog, which mixes orange extract with the chhena, is commonly sold in Bengal. In the dish kheersagar, thick, sweetened milk called rabidi is used instead of sugar syrup. While this dish is largely confined to Orissa, a similar dish rasmalai has become very popular throughout India, mainly due to the efforts of the Kolkata based confectioners K. C. Das, Ganguram and Bhim Nag. In that, the syrup is replaced with sweetened milk of a thinner consistency. Malai chop, a Kolkata invention, consists of prepared chhena that is sandwiched with a layer of sweet, creamy substance also made of milk. In the Bengali pantua, the chhena balls are deep fried in oil before being soaked in syrup.