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EveryCow

Milk sweets

Rasgulla

Soft balls of fresh chhena cheese cooked in light sugar syrup: the spongy white sweet of Odisha and Bengal.

Rasgulla, rasagola in Odia and rosogolla in Bengali, is a sweet of chhena, the fresh curd of milk split with acid. The chhena is kneaded until smooth, rolled into balls and boiled in light sugar syrup until they swell and turn spongy. They are served cool in their syrup, and are one of the best-known sweets of eastern India.

What goes in

Cow milk: 43%43%Lemon juice or sour whey: 4%Sugar: 22%22%Water: 26%26%Cardamom or rose water: 4%5parts
  • Cow milk1043%, Split to make chhena.
  • Lemon juice or sour whey14%, To curdle the milk.
  • Sugar522%, For the cooking syrup.
  • Water626%, A thin, boiling syrup.
  • Cardamom or rose water14%, Optional.

Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each input's share of the product.

Made step by step

Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house and herd to herd; this is one traditional way, in outline.

  1. Step 1: Boil Bring the milk to the boil and split it with lemon juice or sour whey.
  2. Step 2: Strain Drain the curds in muslin, rinse and hang to remove the whey.
  3. Step 3: Shape Knead the chhena until smooth, then roll it into small, crack-free balls.
  4. Step 4: Cook Drop the balls into boiling thin syrup, cover and cook until they double in size.
  5. Step 5: Serve Cool them in the syrup and serve chilled.
  6. Cow milk: 43%43%Lemon juice or sour whey: 4%Sugar: 22%22%Water: 26%26%Cardamom or rose water: 4%
    Finished Rasgulla, by share.

Two claims, two tags

Both Odisha and West Bengal see rasgulla as their own. Odisha points to the Jagannath temple in Puri, where rasagola is offered on Niladri Bije, the day that ends the chariot festival. Bengal points to the sponge rasgulla made in Calcutta in the nineteenth century. Each state now holds a geographical indication: Banglar Rasogolla and Odisha Rasagola.

Making chhena

The skill lies in the chhena. Cow milk is preferred because it gives a softer, finer curd than buffalo milk. The milk is boiled, split with lemon juice or whey from the last batch, and the curds are drained in muslin and rinsed. They are kneaded with the heel of the hand until there is no grain left.

Where it is used

Temple offeringWedding sweetsFestival boxes

The breeds behind it

Red ChittagongNative breed of eastern Bengal.Holstein FriesianFriesian crosses are common in eastern Indian dairies.

Also part of it, and being written: Jersey cattle (Jersey crosses give much of Odisha's and Bengal's milk.).

More on EveryCow

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Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text and drawings by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and dairy makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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