Gulab Jamun Recipe
- Women`s Corner
- September 5, 2022
Gulab jamun are soft delicious berry sized balls made with milk solids, flour & a leavening agent. These are soaked in rose flavored sugar syrup & enjoyed. The word “Gulab” translates to rose in Hindi & “jamun” to berry. So gulab jamun are berry sized balls dunked in rose flavored sugar syrup.
Well there are numerous ways to make gulab jamun but the most common versions made in the Indian households is either with khoya or milk powder. In the past a lot of Indian households would make khoya by simmering milk for hours until all of the liquid is evaporated and solids are left.
These solids were mixed with flour and rolled to jamuns. But this process is tedious so using store bought khoya is an alternate. But store bought khoya or mawa is not easily available outside India and you need to look for it several months ahead of the festive season.
So the simple alternate to this is to use milk powder also known as dry milk which yields the same results.
How to Make Gulab Jamun With Milk Powder?
Making sugar syrup: Add 1.5 cups sugar and lightly crushed 4 green cardamoms to a pot. You can also use organic or turbinado sugar, the color of the syrup will be darker. Pour 1.5 cups water. Boil this until the syrup turns slightly sticky. To check this, cool little syrup in a small plate. Dip your fore finger in it and touch with your thumb. You should feel it is slightly sticky. It should not reach one string consistency.
If you fail to make the syrup correctly, then the jamuns will not soak the syrup and turn soft. If you go past the sticky syrup stage, you will end up in a one string consistency. In that case, add little water and stir. Check again. Switch off. Add rose water.
Read More: Frozen Strawberry Trifle
Make Dough & Shape Jamuns: Measure 1 cup milk powder, ¼ cup +1 tbsps all purpose flour or maida and then a large pinch of soda. If you use more soda then the balls may break. Then mix them up very well or sieve it. Make sure the mixture is uniform. Add 1 tsp of ghee. Next mix well everything. Take 1 tbsp of yogurt or ¾ tbsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp of milk. Mix both together. Pour 1.5 tbsp of this to the flour. Begin to mix. Use up the rest as needed. I used up full 2 tbsp of it. Do not knead the dough. If the dough is too dry use little more milk.
The dough turns slightly sticky and refuses to leave the fingers. Grease your fingers and make a stiff yet soft dough. This should be the right consistency of the dough. If by chance it turns sticky sprinkle another tsp of plain flour. This is just to fix and does alter the texture. Divide the dough to 14 to 18 equal portions and make smooth balls without any lines or cracks on them. Do not knead or press the balls. Be gentle in handling the dough.
Check your syrup if it is still hot. If not, heat it up once more. The syrup must be hot and not very hot. When you dip your finger, you must feel it is hot. But not very hot that you cannot tolerate the heat. Leave it on the stove.
Fry Gulab Jamuns: Pour ghee or oil to a hot pan. I prefer ghee to oil since ghee has a better smoke point than oil.Ghee or oil must be just medium hot and not very hot. Else the gulab jamun will brown without cooking inside. To check the correct temperature, add a small piece of the dough to the oil.
Read More: Bengali Jhal Muri Recipe
The ball must rise slowly without changing its color much. This is the right temperature. If the ball rises fast, then it means the temperate is a bit high. Then take off from the stove for a while. Add the balls gently and fry them on a medium heat for 1 to 2 mins. I added all of them at one time. But be sure not to crowd them. While frying they will increase in size, so provide them enough space in the pan. After 2 mins of frying, reduce the flame to low and fry until golden.
Keep stirring gently to fry them evenly. Since I used a flat pan, I tilted my pan slightly and fried to give them a even color. When they turn golden, take them off the pan using a deep fry skimmer or a strainer. Drain them very well. Add them directly to the hot sugar syrup. Do not dunk them with oil dripping. The sugar syrup must be hot, not very hot or steaming hot. Garnish with chopped pistachios and serve after 3 hours.
This recipe is taken from https://www.helloworldmagazine.com/
