Cheeses of Salepur
A town near Cuttack known for its large, soft rasagola and the chhena sweets of the Mahanadi delta.
Made, aged and sold here
Best time: October to February, the cool and dry season.
Salepur is a small town in Cuttack district, in the fertile delta of the Mahanadi. It is one of the names every Odia sweet lover knows, thanks to a local family of confectioners whose rasagola became famous across the state in the twentieth century. The town has many sweet shops, and its rasagola are larger and softer than most, soaked in light syrup.
Salepur rasagola
Salepur rasagola are made from chhena drained less hard than in Bengal, so they stay soft and spongy. They are cooked in syrup and sold in clay pots or tins, and many travellers carry them home. The same shops make chhena gaja, blocks of chhena fried and dipped in syrup, and rasabali, flattened chhena discs in thickened milk, a temple sweet of Kendrapara.
The delta
The land around Salepur is green paddy country, watered by the branches of the Mahanadi and full of dairy cattle. Milk is plentiful, and chhena is made in homes as well as shops. Cuttack, the old capital of Odisha, is close by and known for its silver filigree work and its own sweet shops.
A trail idea for Salepur
- Salepur sweet shops Taste the large, soft rasagola at their source.
- Chhena gaja Look for the fried chhena blocks sold by the same confectioners.
- Cuttack Visit the old city and Barabati fort on the Mahanadi.
- Kendrapara Continue to the home of rasabali and the Baladevjew temple.
Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Salepur" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets, caves and tours change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.
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