Chhana Sweets of West Bengal: A Culinary Legacy and Cultural Marker

One of the lasting legacies of the cultural interaction between Portuguese, the earliest of the European settlers, and the Bengalis, was the use of curdled milk to create chhana, a form of fresh curd cheese that became the base for most Bengali sweets. Chhana became the primary ingredient in many iconic Bengali sweets like rasogolla, sandesh and rasomalai. These sweets distinguish Bengali cuisine from the rest of India, where sweets are typically made from thickened milk (kheer), lentils (dal), flour or semolina. The evolution of Bengali chhana sweets has functioned as the cultural marker of a community known for its artistic and cultural excellence, not only in India but across the globe.