Gulab Jamun

Gulab jamun is a kind of sweet that can be made for any occasion be it a festival or party or a get together. Gulab Jamun is traditionally made with Khoya which is a bit time consuming. So this time I kind of cheated and took a short cut by using milk powder which takes less time but tastes as good as the traditional recipe.
There are lot of ready made Gulab Jamun mixes available in the groceries stores today but I prefer making my own mix :). Give it a try and I promise these jamuns tastes better than the ones made from the ready made mixes..
Last but not least.. Happy Diwali guys!!

Ingredients


For Jamuns

1 cup milk powder
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp butter at room temperature
3 to 4 tbsp milk at room temperature(just enough to knead the dough)
fat pinch of baking soda
pinch of baking powder
1 tbsp almonds power (blanch the almonds in warm water. Remove the skins and pat dry. Grind to a fine powder) (Optional)
1 tbsp pistachio powder (Optional)
oil for deep frying

For Sugar syrup

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
couple of pinches of cardamom powder

For Garnish


sliced almonds and pistachios for garnish

Method

For Syrup

Add Sugar, water, cardamon in a heavy bottom pan and bring it to a boil till all the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil for another minute, add in lemon juice and turn off the heat. Set the syrup aside.

For Jamuns

Mix Milk powder, all purpose flour, almond powder, pistachio powder, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Add in the butter to the flour mixture and rub between palms to combine the butter well with the flour mixture. Now add in the milk to the flour mixture and knead it a little to make a soft dough. At this point the dough will be little sticky. Let the dough rest for about 10 to 15 minutes. After 15 minutes if the dough becomes dry add little milk till the dough is soft. Grease your hands with ghee or butter and knead the dough to a soft yet firm dough. Divide the dough into 20 to 22 equal portions and roll them into round balls.
Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Here is a little test to check if the oil is at right temperature. Drop a small piece of dough into the oil. it should take about a minute to rise in oil. If it rises faster then turn down the heat little bit and add some more oil to the pan to bring the oil to right temperature. if the dough sits in the oil without rising then the oil is not hot enough so let it come to right temperature.
Once the oil is at right temperature drop the jamuns one by one carefully into the oil. Do not over crowd the pan and make sure there is enough space as the jamuns expand in volume while frying. Keep rolling the jamuns regularly so jamuns gets brown evenly. It usually takes 7 to 8 minutes for the jamuns to fry. Fry the Jamuns till they are golden brown all over. Let the Jamuns cool off for few minutes before placing in the hot syrup. After few minutes drop the jamuns into sugar syrup.
Allow the Jamuns to sit in the Syrup for at least 30 minutes prior to serving(I usually let them sit in the syrup for 6 to 8 hours). Garnish with nuts and these gulab Jamuns can be served hot or cold.

Note

Do not add too much baking soda as the jamuns will fall apart while frying.
Do not drop the jamuns into the syrup immediately after frying. Let them cool down for 2 to 3 minutes.
Nut powders are strictly optional.

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