Gulab jamuns are beautiful burgundy colored deep fried milk balls dipped in scented sugar syrup.Literally gulab means rose, referring to the rose water used for the syrup and jamun is a south asian fruit and our goodies dipped in the syrup somewhat resemble that fruit. It is perfect dessert all of us love, including hubby and son…and the occassion to make it..hubby’s birthday!
Ingredients:
- 1- 1/4 cups Milk powder/ Mawa powder
- 1/4 cup All purpose flour/ maida/ bisquick
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 2 tablespoons ghee/ clarified butter
- 3 cups Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 1 teaspoon Rose water
- 4 cups Water
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- oil for deep frying
Method:
Combine milk powder, flour,baking soda and cardamom powder in a mixing bowl. For those of you who are wondering what bisquick is, it is a pancake and baking mix available in the US. It is a good substitute for all purpose flour, maida in many recipes and works wonderfully well for gulab jamuns. If you don’t have access to it, just don’t bother and stick to good old all purpose flour or maida.
Now, add the milk and ghee and knead into a firm but pliable dough.
Divide the dough into 20 balls about 1 inch diameter. Roll the dough using palms and not your fingers. It’s perfectly fine if the dough sticks a little bit on your palms. If you are doing it correctly, the ball of dough formed will be smooth and free from any cracks. If your dough is too dry consider adding a little milk.
Heat oil in a wok/ kadai on very low heat . Add the balls into the oil. Keep turning them in the oil every 30 seconds so that they cook uniformly. Cook them till they are nicely browned on both sides.To test if the milk balls are properly cooked take out one and press it with your finger to make a dimple. If it springs back to shape when you take of your finger, consider them ready.
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While you are frying the balls, simultaneously, you can also prepare the syrup. Boil the water and sugar in a saucepan and keep stirring till all the sugar is dissolved in the water and the mixture is slightly sticky (about 7-8 minutes). Now stir in the rose water and remove this mixture from the heat.
Another test to check whether the balls are done is to drop one of them in the syrup. If it doesn’t collapse in the next 3-4 minutes, they are cooked thoroughly. Then,transfer all the fried balls into the syrup and let them soak atleast for 30 minutes before serving. They can be served warm or you can chill them before serving.
