Gulab Jamun

Our family is not at all sweet toothed. I am the only one who likes it to some extent. But I shouldn’t be eating too much of sweets at this age, right? Moreover, over the last one or two years that I have start blogging, I have made more sweets than I have ever made in the last sixteen years of my married life. I don’t like gulab jamuns made with the

readymade mix. No, no! Nothing against those who make it well, its just my opinion. Moreover, Gulab jamun is one sweet which my Neha likes. So I had to try the traditional one th khoya/mawa atleast once.

When we were kids, my mom used to make extremely delicious and melt in the mouth gulab jamuns with boiled and mashed sweet potatoes. That’s one thing which I haven’t tried myself, only because I fear I will have to end up eating the whole batch. You can check my earlier post on gulab jamun mix cookies and gulab jamun mix cake. When I had made a fresh batch of khoya/mawa for an eggless mawa cake, I was left with around 125 grams of khoya. Do I need any more reason to try out these yummy sweet which is one among the most famous Indian sweets.

Be it an Indian marriage or any festival or a get together, it’s almost incomplete without gulab jamuns. How many times we all have enjoyed piping hot gulab jamuns with cold vanilla ice cream ! As a child how many times our mom would have made it for Diwali or Dassera or birthday parties or family get togethers ! Another reason which made me a bit hesitant to try these out was the amount of sugar that goes into it and the ghee that we use to fry them. In contrast to gulab jamuns, Rasmalai and Rasogullas are a bit more healthier because we do not need to fry them.

I have seen some recipes where gulab jamuns are made with bread. I think that would be quite interesting. There are few points which should be kept in mind while making these. Please read the Notes section carefully.

Ingredients:

• Khoya/mawa 125 gm
• All purpose flour 30 gm (2-3 tbsp)
• Salt a pinch
• Baking soda a pinch
• Milk 1-2 tbsp
• Sugar 1 cup
• Water 1 cup
• Saffron strands a pinch
• Pistachio slivers 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice 1 tsp
• Cardamom pods 4-5
• Ghee for frying

Method:

• Grate the khoya or mawa and place it in a mixing bowl.
• Add maida, salt and baking soda and mix well.

• Sprinkle milk little by little and combine into a smooth dough.
• Do not add the entire milk on one go.
• Make small crack free balls from the dough.

• To make the syrup, add the sugar and water in a heavy sauce pan.
• Add few cardamom pods and bring it to a boil. Cook it till it thickens a bit.

• Add saffron strands and lemon juice. Remove from fire and keep aside.
• Meanwhile heat ghee in a kadhai. Once the ghee is medium hot, slowly drop 2-3 balls at a time and fry on low to medium flame till it is uniformly golden in colour.
• Do not stir it vigorously. It will take around 5-6 minutes for a batch to be ready.
• Drain the balls from the ghee and drop it in the sugar syrup.
• Allow them to soak the sugar syrup and double in size.
• Fry the remaining balls and add into the sugar syrup.
• Garnish with finely chopped slivers of pistachios and serve it hot.
• Hot gulab jamuns with cold vanilla ice cream is a combination made on heaven. You should try it once. Enjoy.

Notes:

• Do not knead the dough hard. Just mix together and make a dough.
• Make sure that the balls are crack free. If there are cracks, it will tear while frying and absorb more ghee.
• Fry these balls at a very low temperature. Do not stir it while frying.
• Fry till the balls turn golden in colour and ensure that the inside is also cooked well.
• Serve it hot. It tastes way better that way.