West Bengal applied for a Geographical Indication (GI) status for Bengali Rasgulla in 2015. Historically, the sweet was first made in East India that in the present-day states of Odisha and West Bengal. As a result, both of these states claimed to be the birthplace of the famous rasgulla.
West Bengal’s name bring flashes of images of its famous sweet dish – RASGULLA – a sight of pure delightful.
The chhena balls soaked in sugar syrup and rose water is served by every household in Kolkata as no Bengali dinner is complete without Rossogolla. The sight of Rasgulla is enough to widen our eyes and drool over them.
The History follows:
West Bengal applied for a Geographical Indication (GI) status for Rasgulla in 2015. Historically, the sweet was first made in East India that in the present-day states of Odisha and West Bengal. As a result, both of these states claimed to be the birthplace of the famous rasgulla.
After several deliberations, the Geographical Indication Registry of India granted West Bengal the GI status on 14th November 2017.
In conversation with Dhiman Das of K. C. Das Pvt Ltd, Kolkata known for their Bengali sweets, especially Rasgulla narrates the journey of Rossogolla that has been extremely tough since its invention. It has been a long struggle of the man who invented it, the legendary confectioner Dhiman ji’s great-great-grandfather – Nobin Chandra Das.
Nobin Das made chenna balls and boil them in sugar syrup.
Initially, the balls would disintegrate in boiling syrup. He gathered the broken pieces and added khoya, pistachios, Kesar, and raisins with it creating a new Sondesh which he named Baikuntha Bhog. But he never gave up his ambition in making the sweet he originally envisaged.
To make chhena, milk would be curdled with ascorbic acid, but it would become gritty. He was the first to employ acetic acid, then lactic acid or whey, to curdle milk and create a smooth chhena paste.
Then, using the trial-and-error method and the reverse osmosis procedure, he discovered the correct consistency of boiling the sugar syrup where the chhena balls would uniformly simmer for 15 minutes without disintegrating. In 1868, he finally succeeded in creating his ideal sweet, which he named “Rossogolla.”
But the success was not an overnight affair. Nobin Das would offer his customers free samples of his innovation, but he never received any orders.
One fine morning a carriage carrying a little boy and his rich father Raibahadur Bhagwan Das Bagla a timber merchant stopped by Nobin Das’ sweet shop. The son was thirsty and went to the sweet shop to get some water. It was customary to provide at least a little dessert with water back then.
When Nobin Das offered the boy his Rossogolla, the lad was overjoyed and returned to the carriage, where he invited his father to taste it as well. Bhagwan Das Bagla was overjoyed and purchased the full lot to distribute among his family and friends.
Rossogolla has garnered enormous popularity as a result of word-of-mouth publicity since then. Shops across Bengal gradually attempted to duplicate the original version, but when they failed, they added binders such as flour (maida) and semolina (suji). However, it did not match the taste and sponginess of Nobin Das’s Rossogolla made of pure chhena. This is why it was referred to as “Sponge Rasgulla”.
At one point, Nobin Das was unable to meet the enormous demand of his consumers. He was concerned that his invention would become obsolete owing to a lack of supplies. To ensure that his product is passed down to future generations, he personally instructed locals as well as sweet manufacturers from other Indian states how to make his Rossogolla.