RAG Demo

Tag: Bengali sweets

  • Rasgulla

    Rasgulla is the sweet most associated with Bengal, and Kolkata confectioner Nobin Chandra Das is credited with creating the spongy version in 1868 in Bagbazar. Odisha has its own older tradition of rasagola linked to the Jagannath temple in Puri, and both states received GI tags for their versions. The Bengali style is whiter, springier and soaked in a thin syrup.

    A good rasgulla squeezes like a sponge and springs back, releasing syrup with every bite. The whole secret lies in the chhena: it must be made from full-cream cow milk, drained but still moist, and kneaded until perfectly smooth so the balls do not crack in the boiling syrup. They are served chilled or at room temperature, often in an earthen bhaar.

    At a glance

    RegionWest Bengal
    CuisineBengali
    DietVegetarian
    CourseDessert
    Prep time40 minutes
    Cook time25 minutes
    Total time65 minutes
    Serves6
    Spice levelMild
    DifficultyHard
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientsmilk / sugar / lemon juice

    Ingredients

    For the chhena

    • 1 litre full-cream cow milk
    • 2 tbsp lemon juice mixed with 2 tbsp water
    • 2 cups ice-cold water

    For the syrup

    • 1 cup sugar
    • 4 cups water
    • 2 green cardamoms, lightly crushed (optional)
    • 1 tsp rose water (optional)

    Method

    1. Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy pan. Turn off the heat, wait 1 minute, then add the diluted lemon juice a spoon at a time, stirring gently, until the milk splits into white curds and clear greenish whey.
    2. Immediately add the ice-cold water to stop the curds cooking further. Pour through a muslin cloth, rinse under running water to remove the lemon taste, and squeeze lightly.
    3. Hang the chhena for 30-40 minutes so it is drained but still moist; it should hold together when pressed but not drip water.
    4. Transfer to a plate and knead with the heel of your palm for 8-10 minutes until completely smooth and your palm feels slightly greasy. Divide into 12-14 small balls, rolling each between your palms until there are no cracks.
    5. In a wide pressure cooker or deep pan, boil the sugar and water with the cardamom on high heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is rolling.
    6. Drop the balls into the boiling syrup. Cover and cook on high heat for 15 minutes in an open pan, or for 1 whistle and 5 minutes on low in a pressure cooker. The balls will double in size.
    7. Turn off the heat. If using an open pan, sprinkle a few spoons of cold water over the syrup after the first 5 minutes of boiling to keep it thin. Let the rasgullas cool in the syrup, add rose water, and chill for at least 4 hours.

    Tips

    • If the balls crack in the syrup, the chhena was either too dry or not kneaded enough; if they dissolve, it was too wet.
    • The syrup must stay thin and at a rolling boil the entire time – thick syrup gives hard, chewy rasgullas.
    • Use cow milk; buffalo milk chhena is fattier and makes denser, less spongy balls.

    Serve with

    Chilled, two to a bowl with a little syrup, at the end of a meal.

  • Mishti Doi

    Mishti doi, literally sweet curd, is set in unglazed clay pots that absorb excess moisture and give the curd its dense, almost fudgy texture. Bengal's sweet-shop culture made it a fixture at weddings, annaprashan ceremonies and Sunday lunches, and the versions from Nabadwip in Nadia district and from Bogra in present-day Bangladesh are especially famous.

    The milk is reduced until thick, and sugar or nolen gur (date palm jaggery) is caramelised before it goes in, which gives the curd its pale brown colour and deep, toffee-like sweetness. It should be thick enough to cut with a spoon, sweet with only a gentle tang at the end. In winter many families make it with nolen gur instead of sugar.

    At a glance

    RegionWest Bengal
    CuisineBengali
    DietVegetarian
    CourseDessert
    Prep time10 minutes
    Cook time35 minutes
    Total time45 minutes
    Serves6
    Spice levelMild
    DifficultyMedium
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientsmilk / sugar / curd

    Ingredients

    • 1 litre full-fat milk
    • 1/2 cup sugar (or 100 g nolen gur in winter)
    • 2 tbsp water
    • 3 tbsp thick plain curd, at room temperature, as starter
    • Earthen pots or a clay handi

    Method

    1. Boil the milk in a heavy-bottomed pan and simmer on medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring and scraping the sides, until it reduces to about two-thirds.
    2. Meanwhile, put 1/4 cup of the sugar with 2 tbsp water in a small pan on medium heat. Do not stir; swirl the pan until the sugar melts and turns a deep amber, about 4-5 minutes.
    3. Lower the heat and carefully pour a ladle of the hot milk into the caramel – it will splutter. Stir until the caramel dissolves, then pour this back into the reduced milk with the remaining sugar. Stir until fully dissolved.
    4. Let the milk cool until it feels comfortably warm when you dip a finger in, around 40-45 C.
    5. Whisk the starter curd smooth in a bowl, add a ladle of the warm milk, mix, then stir it into the rest of the milk.
    6. Pour into earthen pots, cover with a plate, and leave in a warm, undisturbed place (an off oven with the light on works) for 7-8 hours until set firm.
    7. Once set, refrigerate for at least 3 hours. It will firm up further and taste less tangy when chilled.

    Tips

    • Soak new clay pots in water for an hour and dry them before use, or they will smell of raw clay.
    • If using nolen gur, add it only after the milk has cooled slightly, or the jaggery can curdle the milk.
    • A deeper caramel gives more colour and a slightly bitter edge; stop at amber if you prefer it mellow.

    Serve with

    Chilled, straight from the clay pot, after a festive meal.

  • Sandesh

    Sandesh is the most refined of the Bengali chhena sweets and comes in dozens of styles, from the soft 'naram pak' to the firmer 'kora pak', and from plain cardamom to nolen gur, mango or chocolate versions. Kolkata institutions such as Bhim Chandra Nag and Balaram Mullick built their names on it, and carved wooden moulds shaped like shells, fish and flowers are part of its charm.

    Unlike rasgulla, sandesh is not cooked in syrup. Fresh chhena is kneaded with sugar and cooked very briefly in a pan until it forms a smooth dough that leaves the sides. Too little cooking and it will not set, too much and it turns grainy. The homemade naram pak version below is soft, melts in the mouth and tastes clearly of fresh milk.

    At a glance

    RegionWest Bengal
    CuisineBengali
    DietVegetarian
    CourseDessert
    Prep time40 minutes
    Cook time10 minutes
    Total time50 minutes
    Serves6
    Spice levelMild
    DifficultyMedium
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientsmilk / sugar / cardamom

    Ingredients

    • 1 litre full-cream cow milk
    • 2 tbsp lemon juice mixed with 2 tbsp water
    • 1/4 cup powdered sugar (about 50 g)
    • 1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
    • A few strands of saffron soaked in 1 tsp warm milk (optional)
    • 8-10 pistachios, slivered

    Method

    1. Boil the milk, turn off the heat, and after a minute add the diluted lemon juice slowly while stirring until the milk curdles completely into chhena and greenish whey.
    2. Strain through muslin, rinse with cold water, and squeeze gently. Hang for 20-30 minutes until most of the water has drained but the chhena is still soft.
    3. Knead the chhena on a plate with the heel of your palm for 5 minutes until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and knead for another 2 minutes.
    4. Transfer to a non-stick pan on the lowest heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a spatula, for 5-7 minutes. The mixture will loosen first as the sugar melts, then dry out.
    5. Stop as soon as it starts to come together as a soft mass and leaves the sides of the pan. Do not let it brown.
    6. Transfer to a plate, add cardamom powder and saffron, and knead lightly once it is cool enough to handle, about 2 minutes, until smooth.
    7. Divide into 12 portions and shape into discs, or press into sandesh moulds. Top with slivered pistachio and chill for 30 minutes before serving.

    Tips

    • Overcooking is the most common mistake – take the pan off the heat while the mixture still looks a little moist; it firms up as it cools.
    • For nolen gurer sandesh, replace the sugar with an equal weight of grated nolen gur and cook a minute longer.
    • Keep sandesh refrigerated and eat within two days; it is best on the day it is made.

    Serve with

    On its own with tea, or as part of a mishti platter after lunch.