Rasgulla

Rasgulla

Pahala rasagolas from Odisha (left) and Bengali rasgullas (right)
Alternative names	Rasagolla, rossogolla, roshogolla, rasagola, rasbhari or rasbari (Nepali)
Course	Dessert
Place of origin	Bangladesh, India
Serving temperature	Hot, cold, or room temp
Main ingredients	Chhena, sugar
Variations	Bengali rasgulla, Odia rasagola

Rasgulla is a syrupy dessert popular in the Indian subcontinent and regions with South Asian diaspora. It is made from ball shaped dumplings of chhena (an Indian cottage cheese) and semolina dough, cooked in light syrup made of sugar. This is done until the syrup permeates the dumplings. The dish originated in East India; in the past the present-day states of Odisha and West Bengal have variously claimed to be the birthplace of the dish. In 2016, a committee formed by the government of Odisha stated that the sweet has its roots in Odisha. Officials of the West Bengal government stated that they only wished for a Geographical Indications (GI) tag only for the local variety of Rasgulla known as 'Banglar Rasogolla' (Bengal's Rasagolla), stating that "There is no conflict with Odisha. What we want is to protect the identity of our Rasogolla. Their product is different from ours both in colour, texture, taste, juice content and method of manufacturing."

The dessert is known as Rosogolla or Roshogolla in Bengali and Rasagola in Odia. Rasgulla is derived from the words ras ("juice") and gulla ("ball"). Other names for the dish include Roshgulla (Sylheti), Rasagulla, Rossogolla, Roshogolla, Rasagola, Rasagolla, and Rasbhari or Rasbari (Nepali).

According to historians of Odisha, the rasgulla originated in Puri, as khira mohana, which later evolved into the Pahala rasgulla. It has been traditionally offered as bhog to goddess Lakshmi at Jagannath Temple, Puri. According to the local legend, Laxmi gets upset because her husband Lord Jagannath goes on a 9-day sojourn (the ratha yatra) without her consent. So, she locks Jai Vijay Dwar, one of the temple gates and prevents his convoy from re-entering the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. To appease her, Jagannath offers her rasgullas. This ritual, known as Bachanika, is part of the "Niladri Bije" (or "Arrival of the God") observance, which marks the return of the deities to the temple after the Ratha Yatra.