Love Rasgulla? Do you know this?
No matter how full you are, you will always find a place for a rasgulla in your stomach. Rasgullas are one of the most popular sweets of Bengal and Odisha. Rasgullas are small ball of Chena boiled in sugar syrup. Yes it is as simple as that and we love it. Now times have changed but even if we go a few years back, our guests would get offended if we don’t serve them Rasgullas in dessert. Bengalis are proud of Rasgullas. There is always a fight between Bengalis and Oriyas on where it came form or who invented it. It is widely believed that Nobin Das, a local confectioner of Kolkata, who was also called Rasagolla's Columbus. During 1868 Nobin Das was improvising on the recipe of a sweet to give a higher shelf life or make it longer lasting. Which will make it easier to market it as a product and that’s how Rasgullas got invented. Later K. C. Das son of Nobin Das gave the rasgullas a new high. This is what we all know.
There is another theory. During the invention of rasgullas in Bengal by Nobin Das, a different form of rasgullas(kheermohan) are already very popular in Odisha. It is believed that sign of rasgulla existence can be traced back to the 13th Century in the Holy City of Puri. Rasgullas were served to Goddess Lakshmi on last day of the Rath Jatra festival at Puri. This is a 700+ year old tradition called NILADRI BIJAY.
Although the theories aren't related as believed. But there is a lesser known fact linking both the theories.
It is believed that the recipe of Rasgulla reached Nobin Das through another confectioner, Haradhan Moira and improvised on it. Nobin Das failed to replicate the complex preparation process in Kolkata and ended up with a much simpler rasgullas that can be prepared at home. There is little reference of Haradhan Moira in history and once in a while his name pops out whenever we go through the past of Rasgulla.
We were not there, we don’t know who made it, but we love it and that is how it is going to be.
