Riya Sen [Guru] Reward Points : 93800 Member Since : Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Rasgulla or the Bengali Rosogulla is very popular sweet of Bengal and it has even become one of the symbols of Bengalis. Can anyone provide the history of this sweet and how it is prepared?
Posted On : 4/8/2009 10:44:27 PM
Anju Malhotra Reward Points : 61200 Member Since : Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The rasagolla is a very popular cheese based, syrupy sweet dish that originated in Karnataka. It is supposed to have been a traditional Oriya dish for centuries. 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. 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. One theory pinpoints the origin of the rasagolla to the town of Puri in coastal Orissa, where it is a traditional offering to the Hindu goddess, Lakshmi, the consort of the Puri temple s main deity, Jagannath. In fact, it is an age-old custom inside the temple to offer rasagollas to Lakshmi in order to appease her wrath for ignoring her, after the commencement of the annual chariot festival Rath Yatra .
Posted On : 4/8/2009 11:21:52 PM
Maya Chowdhury Reward Points : 13600 Member Since : Monday, January 05, 2009
Bengali cuisine had taken some giant steps ahead during these experiments and trials and at long last, the much-desired round ball of casein, soaked in syrup, came into being. Nabin Chandra Das named it Rosogolla . The Baghbazar of Roop Chand and Mohan Chand was shot into limelight for this sweet of incomparable delicacy. This prized sweet is pure milk casein processed and preserved in sugar-syrup. It is highly nutritious and can be digested easily. It should not be eaten at one go but in slices and the excess of syrup should be squeezed out before eating. Rosogolla from Nabin Chandra s shopInitially, Rosogolla did not evoke much response. The ordinary man did not like the sweetmeat of casein as they were granulated. One day Bhagwandas Bagla, an opulent businessman, stopped at Nabin Chandra s shop while driving by. His child was thirsty. Bagla asked the helper-boy of Nabin s shop to fetch a glass of water. As was the custom, the boy offered sweetmeat along with water. It was the special Rosogolla of Nabin Chandra s shop served on a dish. Bagla s child was delighted to taste this unique sweet. Seeing this, Bhagwandas Bagla himself tasted Rosogolla and was fascinated. Soon, the fame of this special sweet spread like wildfire and within a short span of 6/7 years, Rosogolla won the hearts of millions in and outside Bengal. Ironically, the orthodox society did not accept Rosogolla for a long time. They opined that a sweetmeat which was prepared by boiling, was not fit to be served to God for worship. Gradually, these negative thoughts and prejudices were eradicated and Rosogolla became a universal favourite.
Posted On : 4/9/2009 12:37:15 AM
Siddharth Ray Reward Points : 61200 Member Since : Tuesday, April 07, 2009
It is prepared by kneading chhena casein often 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. 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. 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 Orissa and Bengal, there is a jaggery variety of Rasagolla which is available during festivities.
Posted On : 4/9/2009 12:46:12 AM
Yojnas Reward Points : 500 Member Since : Monday, April 20, 2009
First of all it is not a Bengali sweet . It didn t originate there, but in neighboring Orissa. Just because Bengalis have a habit of attaching Bengali in front of everything doesn t mean that the rest of India should automatically follow suit. The Nobin Das inventing the rasgulla is entirely bullcrap. All culinary creations represent small incremental steps of other known recipes. The brownies in the US were discovered when chocolate cake failed to rise. The sandwich was created when the Earl of sandwich stuck a piece of meat between his bread. Common recipes like - say - the samosa, could not have been created by a single person. Its kith are the samboosa in the Arab world, and the samsa in Central Asia. In other words, recipes are created one step at a time. One does not conjure up a completely new recipe out of thin air. Nobin Das s claim that he invented a totally new recipe out of nothing, is nothing but a LIE as any sensible person can see.
Posted On : 4/20/2009 7:58:41 PM
[Moderator Comment : hello members, the origin of rassagolla is somewhat like this: The recipe for preparing rasagollas was introduced to Bengal eventually by Orissa. During the Bengal renaissance with the Brahmin cooks of Orissa, the culinary traditions of the state were amalgamated with that of Bengal and Oriya delicacies were assimilated into the Bengali kitchen. However, In 1868, Nobin Chandra Das of Bagbazar, Kolkata, modified the original recipe of rassagollas and extended the market value of it.]
Rasgulla Or Rosogulla, Sweet Of Bengal
