Gulab Jamun

Gulab Jamun

An Indian confection of deep fried spongy milk balls soaked in rose scented and cardamom flavoured sugar syrup

Prep Time: 15-20 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins 

Makes: Around 20-24
Shelf Life: 7-10 Days in refrigerator
Serving Suggestion: Serve warm, cold or chilled as a dessert on its own or with any vanilla ice cream

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Ingredients:
1 cup Milk Powder
1/3 cup Maida/Plain Flour
¼ tsp Baking Soda
A pinch of Salt (Optional)
1 tbsp Yogurt or 2 tbsp Full Fat Milk
1 tsp Ghee or Oil
Few slivers of Pistachio or Almonds for garnishing

For Sugar Syrup:
1¾ cups Sugar
1¼ cups Water
8 Green Cardamoms, peeled and seeds crushed to fine powder
A generous pinch of Saffron
1 tsp Rose Water (Optional but recommended)

Method:
Prepare the sugar syrup:

*Add sugar and water in a wide pan and heat it on a medium flame.
*Once the sugar dissolves completely, add cardamom powder and bring it to boil by stirring every now and then. Let the sugar syrup thicken slightly, about 2-3 minutes after coming to boil. You don’t need to boil it until it reaches one thread consistency.
*Turn off the flame and run the sugar syrup through fine sieve to remove any impurities.
*Transfer the sugar syrup back into the wide pan and mix in saffron and rose water if using. Let it cool down to room temperature.
Prepare the Gulab Jamuns:

*While the sugar syrup is cooling down, prepare the Gulab Jamun mixture. Sieve milk powder, plain flour, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl.
*Mix in yogurt or milk and ghee/oil and start to mix the ingredients lightly to make soft sticky dough. I didn’t need to add more than a tbsp of yogurt and a tsp of ghee but if you find the mixture too dry and crumbly, just add little yogurt or milk about ½ tsp at time until you get a sticky soft dough. Make sure that you don’t over mix or knead the dough as we don’t want the gluten to form. The plain flour used acts as a binding agent and if you over mix the dough then the gluten formed will make the mixture dense and the gulab jamuns will not absorb the sugar syrup well.
*Grease your palms with ghee or oil and pinch marble sized dough and roll it into smooth round or oval shaped balls. Make sure that the balls are small as they double in size once they are fried and soaked in sugar syrup.
*Keep in mind that the dough balls should be smooth without any cracks as they will split and crumble when deep frying. Arrange the balls on a plate and cover it with a kitchen towel to prevent from drying out.

Deep frying the Gulab Jamuns:

Heat oil in a pan for deep frying the gulab jamuns on medium flame and then reduce the flame to low.
*Ideally the dough balls should not crack when deep frying. If you find it spliting open or breaking when deep frying, mix 1 or 2 tsp of plain flour to the dough mixture and lightly mix them well. Pinch a small ball and test if stays in shape without cracking by dropping it into heated oil. If it slowly floats to the surface of the oil without cracking and evenly browns then you have mastered the art of making Gulab Jamun. :)
*Prepare all the Gulab Jamuns and let them rest in the sugar syrup for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving so that they absorb the sugar syrup well and become soft and melt in mouth treats.      

 
*Best way to Serve:
You can serve these delicious melt in mouth Gulab Jamuns warm, cold or chilled on their own, garnished with slivered almonds or pistachio and a generous spoonful of sugar syrup drizzled on top. One other most enjoyable way to serve them is warm with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream! Heaven!