Follow me on Twitter. Add me as a friend on Facebook . Visit my Flickr photostream.
“Bengalis are too much fond of sweets, it’s their national weakness”
– Anonymous
Bangalir Khawadawa
After coming back to Kolkata, I bought this book on Bengali cuisine by Shankar; the book is in Bengali and titled “Bangalir Khawadawa” (aka, Food and Feasting of Bengalis). The book has a great deal of information of various dishes, sweets, chops, and restaurants in Kolkata. The book discusses culinary skills in Bengalis of yore in great detail. But the only thing that I missed in the book was a special section on rasgulla. Which is kind of disappointing since rasgulla (or rasogolla, rashogolla) is the most widely consumed sweet among Bengalis. Well, this post isn’t a book review (it would be a later post). Let’s talk about Rasogollar Payesh.
Rasogolla in Bengal
Rasgulla was invented by the sweet makers (or moira in Bengali) of Puri, the famous temple town in Orissa. In the mid 19th century Oriya cooks were hired at the rich Bengali households and with them arrived the coveted recipe of rasogolla. In 1868, a Bong sweet maker, Nabin Chandra Das refined the sweet delicacy to have a better shelf life. That was the birth of sponge rasgulla.
All I am saying this is because I got very excited with the book, and also a couple of days back I prepared a derivate of this ecstatic rasogolla and named it rasgollar payesh or rasgulla pudding or you can even call it ras malai with a slight twist. This is such a simple recipe that you can even prepare when your guests are knocking at the door. I had bought a can of rasgulla and just thought of experimenting with those sweet cheesy balls. The preparation was an instant hit and those who had the dish couldn’t stop licking their fingers (well not literally. They used spoons you see. But you get the drift. (Bhavnaon ko Samjho).
Cooking time: 30mins
Makes 16 rasgulla
Ingredients:
Rasgulla (Rasogolla): 1kg can contains 16 (How to make Rasogolla – video)
Whole cream milk (Dudh): 1 ½ ltr
Rasgulla syrup (Rash / Raus): 1 cup, pour in more if you want it very sweet
Custard powder: 2 tablespoon
Raisin (Kismis / Kishmish): 20-25
Preparation:
- Keep aside half cup of milk and pour in the rest of milk in a thick bottom pan and simmer till the volume reduces to three-fourth
- Take the custard powder in a small bowl and gradually add the milk that was kept aside to make a smooth batter
- Pour the custard mix into the simmering milk with constant stirring to avoid lump formation
- Add one cup of the syrup from the can, I used little less than that as we don’t like too much sweet in desserts
- Simmer again for about 5 min with constant stirring
- Now, drop in the rasgullas one after another and take out of flame
- Garnish with raisins
- You can keep it in the freezer for sometime or serve it just like that
Hot Tips – You can leave out the custard powder. In that case it’s better to simmer the milk for sometime more so that the volume reduces to half the original, and add ½ teaspoon of cardamon powder or one teaspoon of vanilla essence.
Further Readings – Wiki link Rasgulla, How to make Rasogolla – video
Sending this recipe to FIL: Milk hosted by Sanghi of Sanghi’s Food Delights and also to Barbara for supporting a nobel cuase with her event “LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow 2009“.
If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too. You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

hi nice recipe…i am just wondering”isnt that Rasomalai?”
I’ve had a dish like this before but could not remember the name thank you. It looks wonderful and tastes wonderful.
I’ve not heard of this dish before. It looks wonderful.
.-= barbara´s last blog ..Tzatziki – Thursdays With Thermomix =-.
Thanks,
Barbara. I hope you try it once at home.
Lovely dessert.looks divine!
.-= Divya Vikram´s last blog ..Basil RIce =-.
Thanks Divya :).
Oh wow…that’s an yum idea to combine rasgulla with custard….
.-= Lubna Karim´s last blog ..Egg Pudding =-.
Lubna,
Thanks for dropping by. I find this recipe good as the sweetness of the rasgulla gets reduced and also there is a break from all time fruit custards. Its a win win situation here :).
Amazing! Not clear for me, how offen you updating your bengalicuisine.net.
Thank you
We do often update our site. You can subscribe to our feed to get the posts delivered to your mail box. 🙂
This looks tempting. A new variation of using custard powder. Yummmm it looks. I am such a crazy fan of rasamalai.. I have tried it before using the MTR ready mix. But sure to try this one soon.
.-= Nithya´s last blog ..Vinayagar Chathurthi Celebration and Sweets 🙂 =-.
Yeh, I get fed up of the same old fruit custard for dessert so this is a relief variation. 🙂
hai dear…rasagolla’s are my favourite…love to taste it any time…nice tempting dessert
.-= shama´s last blog ..VINAYAKAR CHATHURTHI –2009 =-.
Thanks Shama. Even I love rasgulla. Will try posting the rasgulla recipe soon :).
Hey sudeshna
How have u been? So sorry I havent been visiting ur blog (not others too) for quite sometime. Now I am back. I am married and have moved to US. Been taking time to settle with new life n new person he he 🙂
Yummy rosagolla. THe additiond of custard powder is kinda new to me. Gotta try it sometime soon.
Do stay in touch.
Cheers!
Vij
.-= Vijitha Shyam´s last blog ..INDIAN PRAWN CURRY =-.
Vij,
That’s a great news. Congrats. Hope to get some great recipes from you now as your are back 🙂
Wow never used custard powder with rasgullas before, that sounds too good, will def try sometime soon 🙂
.-= Parita´s last blog ..Sun Dried Tomato, Basil and Cashewnut Pesto with Pasta =-.
It really tastes awesome, and the yellowish color of the custard makes it look damn tempting.