As sweet as Rasagola is, the innocent white delicacy has been a subject of a bitter feud for as long as I have known. Apparently, the neighbouring states of Odisha and West Bengal have been debating the origins of the sweet dish for the longest time.
For Odisha, it’s their sweet Rasagola that traces its origin in the 11th century when Lord Jagannath appeased angry Goddess Laxmi with the sweet delicacy. However, for West Bengal, Rasgulla is their pride. They believe it was the creation of a Kolkata-based confectioner, Nobin Chandra Das, in 1868.
In 2019, the ‘Battle of the Sweet’ concluded with a draw match when Odisha was granted a GI (geographical indicator) tag for ‘Odisha Rasagola’ within two years after West Bengal got the GI tag for its version of the sweet delicacy.
However, I came across this old video of Sourav Ganguly on Twitter. And from what it looked like, Dada has settled the ‘Rasagola vs Rasgulla’ debate once and for all.
Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, was born and brought up in Calcutta, West Bengal. With Dada claiming Rasagola has come from Odisha, the debate seems to have settled, and now we can all rest.
Here’s how people reacted to this.
Rasagola or Rasgulla, it’s just the best. For the majority, like me, it’s the sweet sugary spongy roll that brings back all the fond childhood memories and the gold old days.