KC Das' Rossogolla - the heart-throb of Bengal
- 5 years ago
Rosogolla, Malai chomchom, Sandesh, Raj bhog, Kalo Jam – these names always tickle the taste buds and make one drool. Identified as the land of sweet lovers, the state of West Bengal in the Eastern part of India is home to these delightful delicacies.
In the second half of the nineteenth century the state was going through its golden era: be it in the sector of art and literature, or in the sector of exploration and innovation. This spirit also reached the area of confections and sweets.
In 1868, Nobin Chandra Das created a legend – small balls of ‘chenna’ or cottage cheese boiled in a sugar syrup and christened it ‘rosogolla’ or quite literally - a ball of juice.
Nobin Chandra left his legacy and invention in the hands of his son Krishna Charan Das who further expanded the business with the same spirit of exploration. He created the perennial favorite - the ‘Rossomalai’ and opened the first shop ‘Krishna Chandra Das confectioner ‘ better known as ‘K.C.Das’. He also introduced the canned Roshogolla- the first and only canned dessert-manufactured in country at the time.
His son Sarada Charan further expanded the business and opened several shops in the pivotal regions of Kolkata. The shop created new records as it introduced uniformed employees and a westernized service to customers as well as replacing the traditional leaf packing with cardboard boxes.
Today, the K.C. Das factory spreads over a large area with more than a hundred workers. Every procedure is carried out in an organized manner in the factory. Huge tanks with taps pour milk into a huge vessel, strained through muslin cloth where a solution is kept mixed in water. The milk then curdles to form ‘chenna’ or cottage cheese. The muslin cloth is then squeezed to drain the excess water out of the ‘chenna’. As soon as the ‘chenna’ dries it is put into a machine out of which the chhena comes in uniform sizes.
A separate machine, moulds and shapes the small pieces of the ‘Chhena’ into perfectly round balls. A person stands at the end of the machine holding a tray and collecting these perfectly shaped balls. The balls are then dropped into a huge vessels of hot sugar syrup in which they are allowed to boil for a specific amount of time till they soak in the sugar syrup and become soft. This is now the legendary rosogolla of K.C.Das.
The workers then put these cooled rosogollas into clean and sterilized cans along with some of the sugar syrup. Every step and procedure in the factory is carried out in an organized manner with great attention to cleanliness and proper hygiene.
Thus, is born the perfect K,C, Das rosogolla to go!
In the second half of the nineteenth century the state was going through its golden era: be it in the sector of art and literature, or in the sector of exploration and innovation. This spirit also reached the area of confections and sweets.
In 1868, Nobin Chandra Das created a legend – small balls of ‘chenna’ or cottage cheese boiled in a sugar syrup and christened it ‘rosogolla’ or quite literally - a ball of juice.
Nobin Chandra left his legacy and invention in the hands of his son Krishna Charan Das who further expanded the business with the same spirit of exploration. He created the perennial favorite - the ‘Rossomalai’ and opened the first shop ‘Krishna Chandra Das confectioner ‘ better known as ‘K.C.Das’. He also introduced the canned Roshogolla- the first and only canned dessert-manufactured in country at the time.
His son Sarada Charan further expanded the business and opened several shops in the pivotal regions of Kolkata. The shop created new records as it introduced uniformed employees and a westernized service to customers as well as replacing the traditional leaf packing with cardboard boxes.
Today, the K.C. Das factory spreads over a large area with more than a hundred workers. Every procedure is carried out in an organized manner in the factory. Huge tanks with taps pour milk into a huge vessel, strained through muslin cloth where a solution is kept mixed in water. The milk then curdles to form ‘chenna’ or cottage cheese. The muslin cloth is then squeezed to drain the excess water out of the ‘chenna’. As soon as the ‘chenna’ dries it is put into a machine out of which the chhena comes in uniform sizes.
A separate machine, moulds and shapes the small pieces of the ‘Chhena’ into perfectly round balls. A person stands at the end of the machine holding a tray and collecting these perfectly shaped balls. The balls are then dropped into a huge vessels of hot sugar syrup in which they are allowed to boil for a specific amount of time till they soak in the sugar syrup and become soft. This is now the legendary rosogolla of K.C.Das.
The workers then put these cooled rosogollas into clean and sterilized cans along with some of the sugar syrup. Every step and procedure in the factory is carried out in an organized manner with great attention to cleanliness and proper hygiene.
Thus, is born the perfect K,C, Das rosogolla to go!