Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Rosogolla
Rosogolla (Rosogolla)

Rosogolla

VegetarianOrigin West BengalPrep 10 minutesCook 45 minutesMakes 12–15

Tender, spongy cheese dumplings soaked in light sugar syrup. They are delicately sweet, juicy, and light in texture.

Ingredients

01
Cottage cheese · ChhenaMake it: Chhena →
250 g
dairy
02
Granulated sugar · Cheeni
500 g
sweetener

Method

  1. Work 250 g chhena thoroughly on a clean surface until completely smooth and pliable, then portion and roll into 12 to 15 small spheres, sizing them smaller than the intended final result.
  2. Pour water into a heavy pan, add 500 g granulated sugar, and set over low heat. Stir continuously until the sugar completely dissolves, then turn up the heat and let the syrup simmer until it reaches a single-thread consistency.
  3. Filter the hot syrup through a fine sieve into a heatproof vessel to remove any sediment, then pour it back into the cooking pot and bring it back to a rolling boil.
  4. Drop the shaped chhena rounds gently into the bubbling liquid, fit a lid onto the pan, and simmer undisturbed for 30 minutes.
  5. Take off the lid and carefully lift the swollen dumplings out using a slotted spoon. Let them cool and serve at room temperature.

Don't have something?

Chhena
  • Paneer

    Use the same weight; crumble or mash. Firmer and less moist; works best in savoury dishes, not for making rasgulla.

  • Cottage cheese

    Use the same weight; drain well and mash. Wetter and more acidic; reduce other liquid.

  • Hung natural yoghurt

    Use the same weight only where the chhena is mashed into a mixture, not where it must be shaped. Tangier and softer.

Granulated sugar
  • Jaggery

    Use equal weight; grate or shave finely so it dissolves rapidly, giving a warm, caramel-like sweetness and slightly darker sauce.

Similar dishes

Gulab Jamun
Khoya Bonbons in Syrup
It tastes much richer, denser, and floral with notes of saffron and rosewater compared to the light, mild sweetness of this dish.
  • Same: Gulab Jamun also consists of dairy dumplings made with chhena and soaked in sugar syrup.
  • Different: Gulab Jamun adds khoya and ghee, is deep-fried in vegetable oil rather than boiled, and flavors its syrup with saffron, rosewater, and lime juice.
Paneer Tikka Kali Mirch
Peppery Paneer Skewers
Paneer Tikka Kali Mirch is savory, sharp, and peppery rather than light and intensely sweet like this dish.
  • Same: Paneer Tikka Kali Mirch also relies on fresh Indian dairy cheese as its core ingredient.
  • Different: Paneer Tikka Kali Mirch is roasted in oil with black peppercorns, boiled onion paste, ginger, and garlic instead of being shaped into chhena balls and simmered in sugar syrup.
Hariali Paneer Tikka
Green Paneer Skewers
Hariali Paneer Tikka is savory, herby, pungent, and smoky, in contrast to the light, sugary sweetness of this dish.
  • Same: Hariali Paneer Tikka also features fresh Indian curd cheese as its primary ingredient.
  • Different: Hariali Paneer Tikka is seasoned with garlic, mint chutney, and black rock salt, bound with chickpea flour and mustard oil, and grilled, whereas this dish simmers plain chhena dumplings in sugar syrup.
Haraa Paneer Tikka
Haraa Paneer Tikka tastes savory, herby and smoky with mild chilli heat, unlike this dish’s delicate sweetness and juicy sugar syrup.
  • Same: Haraa Paneer Tikka shares a fresh cheese base with this dish, using paneer where this dish uses chhena.
  • Different: Haraa Paneer Tikka adds green bell pepper, red onion, a coriander-mint-yoghurt marinade, garlic, green chilli, chickpea flour, garam masala and chaat masala, and is oven-cooked, while this dish is only chhena and sugar soaked in syrup.