Rasgulla OR Rossogollas of Kolkata - History And Recipes

Rossogolla, the classic and historical Bengali sweet is also famous in the other parts of India as well as in some neighboring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is almost a custom in Bengal to serve Rossogolla as welcome refreshment as well as a dessert in any festival or domestic occasion to their eminent guest and relatives. This white yummy sweet ball is called Rosogolla, Roshogolla, Rasogolla or rossogolla in Bengal and Rosgulla or Rasgulla in the other parts of India.

If you talk about rossogolla, the legendary name of Sri Nobin Chandra Das of Kolkata will immediately come to your mind. He is the inventor of Rossogolla and respectfully remembered as the Father of Rossogolla. In the year 1868 Nobin Chandra succeeded in making this legendary sweet which is now called the ‘National sweet of India’. His ancestors were sugar merchants of Kolkata having considerable social standing. Hailing originally from the district of Burdwan, the Das family had made Kolkata their home for eight generations by now. Their house was on the bank of holy river Ganges in Sutanotty (now Bagbazar, Kolkata).

But the journey from a tiny confectioner of Kolkata to the legendary ‘Father of Rossogolla’ was not that easy at that time. He didn’t have that much of recourses for marketing the product. Nobin had no other alternative but to leave everything on his fortune. At last one fine morning, a magnificent cart came to his shop. Raibahadur Bhagwandas Bagla, a wealthy timber merchant of Kolkata was in the carriage with his family. A child came out of the cart and asked for a glass of water. Nobin Chandra offered his usual hospitality. The child was offered “Rossogolla” along with a glass of water. The child was so delighted that he shared it with his father. The father was equally thrilled, and immediately bought a large quantity for his family and friends. Nobin Chandra and his “Rossogolla” became famous in no time.

Contrary to the advice of his friends and admirers to take out patents, this great man taught the intricacies of Rossogolla-making to numerous sweetmeat makers. He believed that his creation could only gain popularity if available in all sweet shops across the country.

Many of the eminent Bengali personality were fond of Nobin Chandra’s Rossogolla including Rabindranath tagore, Swami Ramkrishna, Swami Vivekanandaand many more.

Krishna Chandra Das widely known as K.C.Das, son of the great Nobin Chandra Das has invented the canned version of Rossogolla which is now available widely across India and some other parts of the world.

Rossogollas are available in different sizes and varieties. Some of these varieties are described bellow:

1. Conventional Rossogolla (white colored, soft and perishable)
2. Sponge Rossogolla
3. Kamola Bhog (Orange colored and orange flavored)
4. Cream chop
5. Rajbhog
6. Nolen Gurer Rossogolla (Rossogolla with Bengal jaggery flavor)

Manufacturers of Rossogolla normally do not disclose the recipes but here I have mentioned two home recipes which can be tried by anyone.

This recipe can be tried at any time because the preparation of the main ingredients the chhena or chhana is included in this recipe.

Ingredients

1. Whole milk 1 ltr.
2. Milk ½ cup (for the mixture)
3. Flour 2 tsp
4. Sugar 200 gm
5. Lemon juice or citric acid 15 ml
6. Water 500 ml

Preparation of chhena

1. Take full cream milk
2. Boil it and keep it on sim
3. Let it cool down to a lukewarm temperature
4. Add lemon juice or citric acid for separating the water and the chhena
5. Once the water and clusters of milk are separated, pour the separated milk on to a clean white muslin cloth
6. Drain out the water
7. Bundle up the milk content in the cloth and hang it for 6 -8 hours for drainage of extra water

Preparation of chhena balls

1. Take the chhena in a flat pan (water should be drained out before that)
2. Add flour
3. Mix well to make it a fine dough
4. Make small balls and keep aside

Preparation of syrup

1. Take 250 ml water in a pan and put it on medium flame
2. Add sugar
3. When it starts boiling and the sugar completely dissolved add ½ cup milk
4. The un-dissolved particles of the mixture would be separated and float on the mixture
5. Screen out the floating particles to get a clear syrup

The final part

1. Add chhena balls and keep boiling on medium flame
2. Go on adding small quantity of water as soon as the mixture starts boiling. The 250 ml balance water should be added in a span of next 15 minutes
3. Put off the flame
4. Let the mixture with the rossogollas be cooled
5. It can be served hot otherwise preserve it in a bowl in the fridge

This recipe I have tested personally.

(The quantity shown here is the same as I used during testing, you may increase or reduce proportionately as per your requirement)

Ingredients

1. Fresh chhena ½ kg (you can use fresh paneer from local confectionary)
2. Sugar ½ kg
3. Flour 1 tbsp
4. Water 1 ltr.
5. Milk ½ cup

Procedure

1. Take the chhena in a flat pan
2. Add flour
3. Mix well to make it a fine dough
4. Make small balls and keep aside
5. Take 500 ml water in a pan and put it on medium flame
6. Add sugar
7. When it starts boiling and the sugar completely dissolved add ½ cup milk
8. The un-dissolved particles of the mixture would be separated and float on the mixture
9. Screen out the floating particles to get a clear syrup
10. Add chhena balls and keep boiling on medium flame
11. Go on adding small quantity of water as soon as the mixture starts boiling. The 500 ml balance water should be added in a span of next 15 minutes
12. Put off the flame
13. Let the mixture with the rossogollas be cooled
14. It can be served hot otherwise preserve it in a bowl in the fridge

Rossogolla is readily available in any sweet shop of Kolkata as well as any other city of Bengal. Canned Rossogolla manufactured by K.C.Das and grandsons Pvt. Ltd. is available in grocery shops also. Now other manufacturers such as Haldiram, Amul etc are also manufacturing canned Rossogolla.