Once when I was dining at a Bengali friends residence, I was overjoyed when they served delicious rasgullas for dessert. Chomping on the small, spongy balls dipped in sugar syrup I decided that I would dig into the history of this much-loved dessert as soon as possible. Many months passed since then until I could find time for my passion for food history. Nevertheless, I went ahead after months of hiatus, tried to accumulate all tit bits I could from the net, friends, and anywhere I could get information about this famous dessert.
I was astonished with what I found out. The rasgulla considered a popular Bengali sweet by scores of people actually has its origins in the town of Puri in Orissa. Yes, unbelievable as it may sound but it is the truth. Rasagolla, the name by which rasgulla in known in Orissa has been relished by the Oriya folks for centuries. Infact it is said that the most scrumptious rasagollas in Orissa are those churned out by Bikalananda Kar in the town of Salepur and the ones prepared in the village of Pahala. Prepared from chenna (cottage cheese) that is then held together by semolina/suji and flavored with cardamom, the balls of this dough mixture are tossed into sugar syrup and cooked. This Oriya version of cream-colored rasagollas rivals and dominates the most famous Bengali versions.
Then how is it that the rasagollas came to be known as the Bengali rôshogollas? The amalgamation of this much-loved Oriya dessert into the cuisine of Bengal took place when the Ude Thakurs (Oriya brahmin cooks) came to be employed by the elite Bengali households. The Bengalis fell in love with this yummy dessert at once but were saddened by its short shelf life. In 1868, Nobin Das, a confectioner in the town of Kolkata started using arrowroot and chenna impurities in the preparation of the chenna balls. This extended the shelf life but with loss of some deliciousness as compared to the original versions. Nevertheless, the Bengalis enjoyed their rôshogollas and do so even today.
With the passage of time, K. C. Das, son of Nobin Das devised a technique to can and sell them. From then on, the dessert became more popular and reached many other regions of India. Today, the dessert holds position as the national sweet of India. However, there are some who would claim that Haradhan Moira and not Nobin Das was the one to introduce rôshogollas in Bengal.
Well, even if the issue of who introduced rasagollas in Bengal remains debatable, young and old waste no time in enjoying this succulent sweet treat time and again.
