Nolen gurer rosogolla (rasgulla)

Jump to Recipe

A winter speciality Bengali sweet – rasgullas made with date palm jaggery

What I am going to share with you all today, is an extremely special recipe. Not only does this have so many memories attached to it, but also, the main ingredient, nolen gur, is special. That’s because it is available only once a year. The recipe of this rasgulla variant – nolen gurer rosogolla (rasgulla) – is made with date palm jaggery, which is called nolen gur in Bangla. This gur is extracted from the sap of the date palm trees, that grow abundantly in West Bengal’s countryside. As winter approaches, there is a different kind of excitement among Bengalis. And that is because it is the time when the sap from the date trees is ready of tapping. In other words, this translates to the abundant availability of delectable sweets made of nolen gur, instead of sugar.

Unlike cane jaggery, date palm jaggery is not intensely sweet. It has a toned down sweetness and a smoky, caramel flavour. Also, it has a distinctive dark brown colour (that is why, sweets made of the gur also have a brown hue). All this make it a favourite and must-have ingredient in Bengali homes come winter. A plethora of winter desserts’ specialities like nolen gurer sandesh, rosogulla, payesh (kheer) etc are made with this gur. Now a days, these sweetmeats, are available even outside of West Bengal. So if you ever get a chance to be in India, during the winters, do try out the nolen gur sweets.

Nolen gur-er in Bangla, means “made of nolen gur or date plam jaggery.”

Nolen gur in London

I am particularly excited about this recipe. And this because, this year during January and February when I was in India, I gorged on the date palm jaggery sweets but couldn’t carry it back with me. However, while on my regular grocery shopping spree in an Indian store in East London, last week, I spotted this golden nectar! And there was no stoping me. This came as a huge surprise, since I was expecting this gur to arrive during the winters. And when I couldn’t see them then, I was dejected, thinking maybe it doesn’t ship here. But whenI saw the bottles now, I picked up two, came home and set off to make everything that I knew with the nolen gur.

And as you see, my first recipe is that of the nolen gurer rosogolla (rasgulla). The process of making these Indian cheese balls, soaking in a sugar-jaggery syrup differs slightly from the usual one. Nonetheless, the broader rules remain the same. You may take a look at my rose and saffron flavoured rasgullas recipe. Here I have extensively put down the finer details , you will need to keep in mind, for making the perfect rasgullas.

Special taste

The taste and flavours of these two versions are very very distinct. The smoky, honey and caramel flavours, that the nolen gur imparts to the rasgullas made with them, feel like food from the heavens. Not to say that the regular ones are any less. But, I urge you to try these out once, so that you know what I am talking about. Another note for you to keep in mind. This recipe will not work with normal cane sugar. It is only with nolen gur or date palm jaggery that these nolen gurer rosogolla (rasgulla) are made.

So, here is the easy recipe of nolen gurer rosogolla (rasgulla) for you. If you happen to give this delicacy a try I’d love to hear how you enjoyed them. You can share your feedback in the comments below and also share your food pictures with me over on Instagram.

You may also like,

Caramel bhapa mishti doi (baked sweetened yoghurt)

Kheer komola (Bengali orange kheer)

Gulab jamun with khoya

Healthy and baked gujiya

Rose and pista kulfi

Eat hearty!