Bengalis can't imagine celebrating a festival or a special occasion without the sweet, soft and plump rasgulla. So they created a special day just to celebrate their favourite sweet delicacy.
However, rasgulla which is extremely popular in Odisha as well became a matter of contention between the two states as both the parties claimed for the ownership of this iconic dessert.
Savour Bengali cuisine, it's not just fish and sweets
In the historical documents archived by the Bengal government, it is clearly stated that the rasgulla was prepared for the first time in 1868 by an expert cook named Nabeen Chandradas. However, Pradeepkumar Panigrahi, the minister for science and technology, in 2015, claimed that the Odia people have been cooking rasgulla for the last 600 years. He even announced the formation of a special committee to prove his claims. A detailed investigation was conducted and as per the Geographical Indication Act (GI) Bengal was declared as the place of origin of the famous rasgulla. These days, tinned rasgullas are easily available in bakeries and super markets.
Here's a simple rasgulla recipe you can try at home.
Ingredients
2 litres milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp all purpose flour (maida)
For the syrup
4 cups water
1 cup sugar
Preparation
Boil the milk
After the milk has cooled down, store it in the fridge over night
Add water into the lemon juice
Mix well
In a pan, heat the milk after removing the cream
Add the lemon juice slowly
Mix well
Keep it aside until the milk curdles into paneer
Pour it into a sieve
Wait for at least 4 hours for the water to completely drain from paneer
Mix the paneer well using hands
Add maida and mix well
Make small paneer balls
In a vessel, boil 5 cups of water
Add the paneer balls into the boiling water
Cook the paneer balls for at least 20 minutes with the lid on
Scoop out the cooked paneer balls and put it sugar syrup
Wait until the rasgullas soak up the all the sweet goodness of the flavoured sugar syrup.
