♡kacha golla♡
hi!
I am back with another delightful Bengali dessert! This sweet is very popular among Bengalis and is a great option for those who wish to hold back on their sugar intake. Kacha golla is a mildly sweet dessert that is made with chana, sugar, cardamom powder, sweetened condensed milk, and rose water. Since golla means round, I'm sure you can guess that these sweets will be round spheres like roshogolla. However, this dessert is entirely different from roshogolla. Once the chana is made, the remaining process is fairly simple.
I have written about the process of making chana in my post about roshogolla, however, I have added some pictures of the process here as chana is a staple in Bengali desserts. I used about 1 full gallon of milk to get this amount of chana.
After the chana is formed, a cheesecloth is the quickest and most efficient way to extract all the whey (liquid shown in the glasses) from the solids. However, as many people most likely do not own a cheesecloth, I have shown that you can use a regular strainer and lightly press down on the chana to remove the whey. Once the whey is removed, the chana should look tight and compact.
The next step is to split the chana in half. The reason for doing this is because one half of the chana will be sticky and warm, whereas the other half will be tight and cool. This helps ensure that the kacha gollas can be properly formed into mini spheres.
After this step, you can keep half of the chana aside and begin adding the ingredients to the other half. First, you should make sure all of your ingredients are measured and laid out. This helps you maintain mise en place, a French term that simply means "everything in its place". Crumble up the chana with your hands to break up the shape. Always make sure to wash your hands before any of these steps :) Then, add 1 tsp of cardamom powder and 1 tsp of white granulated sugar and knead the dough with your knuckles until it is soft and smooth. If you have read my other recipes, you have probably noticed that a lot of Bengali desserts use the same ingredients, but the end results vary depending on what you choose to make.
Fun fact: Another name for kacha golla is pranohara. This term is very interesting to me because it practically suggests the sweet is so delicious that it feels surreal. Pran means life so I thought this was a descriptive and appropriate name for this sweet :)
When the dough is kneaded, you can add it to a pan on medium heat. Add a few drops of rosewater (less is more). If you do not have rosewater, you can skip it but feel free to make your own rosewater with fresh rose petals. Then, I added one tbsp of sweetened condensed milk. You can definitely add more if you want your kacha gollas to be sweeter, but I have kept mine less sweet in accordance with my dietary goals. Turn the heat up a bit and saute the mixture with a wooden spoon. The reason for using a wooden spoon is that it works well with high heat levels and is more sanitary than other materials. The sweetened condensed milk will release some liquids, so keep stirring the mixture until it becomes slightly sticky and tight again.
This should only take about 5 minutes on a medium-high heat. Once this is completed, you can add this mixture to the chana you kept aside from earlier. Crumble them together and knead them into a warm dough. Now, you are free to make balls by rolling your palms together and placing them on a plate. Traditionally, these balls are then covered in milk powder, though I have not used any as it is difficult to find. This step only changes the appearance of the kacha gollas, but feel free to use it if you have any. I decorated mine with pistachios and a strand of original saffron (more info about saffron in my roshogolla post) and got about 2 dozen kacha gollas. If you make larger balls, you will get about 11-12.
Kacha golla is a scrumptious dessert perfect for anyone with health concerns. The taste is indescribable, but it has a warm touch of saffron and a mellow aroma of rose. If you want more details, try it yourself!
see you next time!
