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Kancha golla
কাঁচাগোল্লা (kanchagolla): Natore's soft, barely cooked fresh-chhana balls with cardamom
Natore, a quiet district town north of the Padma, is known throughout Bangladesh for one sweet, and a visit there is incomplete without a clay pot of kanchagolla to carry home. Kancha means raw, and the name is a joke at the sweet's expense: unlike rasgulla or chomchom, it is never boiled in syrup but simply kneaded fresh chhana with sugar, warmed in a pan for a few minutes and rolled into soft balls scented with cardamom. The texture is moist and faintly grainy, the taste milky and gently sweet, best eaten within a day or two. Cooking the mixture too long is what most home cooks get wrong; it turns dry and crumbly, more like sandesh. Chef's tip: make the chhana from full-fat milk and squeeze it only lightly, so plenty of moisture stays in for that melting Natore texture.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the chhana
- 6 ¼ cups full-fat milk
- 3 tbsp lemon juicemixed with 3 tbsp water
For the sweet
- 2 ⅞ oz caster sugar
- 1 /2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tbsp pistachios (optional)chopped
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What you'll need
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Bring 6 ¼ cups full-fat milk to a full boil in a heavy pan, take it off the heat for 1 minute, then stir in 3 tbsp lemon juice a spoon at a time until the milk separates into soft white curds and clear, greenish whey.
10 minStep 2: Pour into a sieve lined with muslin or a clean thin cloth, rinse the curds under cold running water for 30 seconds to wash off the lemon, then gather the cloth and squeeze gently.
3 minStep 3: Hang the chhana for 30 minutes until it is moist but no longer dripping.
30 minStep 4: Knead the chhana on a clean worktop with the heel of your hand for 5 minutes until smooth, then knead in 2 ⅞ oz caster sugar.
5 minStep 5: Cook the mixture in a non-stick pan over a low heat for 5–6 minutes, stirring constantly, just until it looks glossy and starts to come together; it should still be very soft.
6 minStep 6: Cool until warm, stir in 1 /2 tsp ground cardamom, then roll into 12 smooth balls and top with 1 tbsp pistachios. Chill and eat within 2 days.
15 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 22 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kancha golla take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 45 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of full-fat milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of lemon juice?
- Lime juice, same amount.
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