Gulab Jamun

One of the most popular Indian desserts, king of wedding buffets, favorite dessert in catering menus and love of many Indians, Gulab Jamun. Made with Khoya (dry milk), these are tender balls soaked in sugar syrup which are just perfect to make any lunch or dinner complete.

The softness and the texture is what is the most tricky part of its recipe. The secret lies in the dough. There are a few things which you need to keep in mind to get perfect texture in gulab jamuns:

1. Knead the dough soft and khoya balls without cracks. This will help in non-breakage while frying. If you have homemade fresh khoya, then it will be easier to knead it into a soft dough. For store bought frozen khoya, first bring it to room temperature, then slowly add 2 tbsp of warm milk while kneading to make it soft. Adding milk will moisten the khoya and help to make crack-free smooth balls. If you have cracks then keep kneading otherwise the balls would burst while frying.

2. Fry on low heat. It is very important to fry the khoya balls on low heat. If the oil is too hot, the balls will darken from outside but will be raw from inside. So it can take anywhere from 8-10 smin for complete frying and the color will be between brown and dark brown. One eay hack is to fry 1 ball first and check the temperature. If it gets darken very quickly then the oil is too hot. Let it cool down before frying the rest of the balls.

3. Keep sugar syrup thin so that gulab jamuns can soak it easily. If you keep the sugar syrup of thick consistency the balls will not be able to soak the syrup completely and the core of the balls will remain dry and bland. so keep syrup consistency to less than 1 string. That means, keep boiling sugar and water for 5-7 min and then check by taking 1 drop between finger and thump and try to separate the finger, there should be very less string formation.

4. Soak in warm (not hot) syrup for 2-3 hours and heat before eating. DO NOT soak gulab jamuns in hot syrup as they will turn overly soft and mushy. Let the syrup cool down a little, then soak the gulab jamuns in warm syrup for at least 2 hours.

Ingredients:

Khoya (Dry milk)- 1.5 cups (Grated)

All purpose flour- 1.5 tbsp

Suji (Semolina)-1 tbsp

Baking powder-1/8 tsp

Milk- 2 tbsp

Oil- For deep frying

Water-2 cups

Sugar-2 cups

Lemon juice- 1 tsp

Cardamom powder- 1 tsp

Rose water- 1 tsp (Optional)

Chopped Pistachios- For garnish (Optional)

Chopped Almonds- For garnish (Optional)

Method:

1. In a plate, mix khoya, all purpose flour, suji and baking powder and knead it to a soft and smooth dough. Add milk in batches if khoya is very dry.

2. Make small balls and make sure they are crack-free and smooth.

3. Cover and keep the balls aside.

4. Heat oil in a deep pan (kadhai) and let it cool down on low heat.

5. First fry 1 gulab jamun ball to check oil temperature.

6. Add the rest of the balls and let them fry for 8-10 min on low heat.

7. Take the fried balls out on a plate.

8. Heat a saucepan, add sugar and water and let it boil for 5-7 min while stirring occasionally.

9. Bring the sugar syrup to less than 1 string consistency and then add cardamom powder, lemon juice and rose water. Lemon juice will prevent crystallization of sugar.

10. Let the syrup cool down a little.

11. Soak the Gulab jamun balls in syrup for 2-3 hours.

12. Heat again before serving and garnish with almonds/pistachios.