GULAB JAMUN

GULAB JAMUN

#Edited: This post was featured at : What'd you do this weekend party on 23rd March 2015.

Gulab Jamun is a very famous South Asian dessert, which people are eating from ages. Gulab Jamun is often prepared in weddings, functions and parties. This dessert is very popular throughout India from north to south, in many states, people enjoy this dessert.

In my kitchen, they are made on wholesale, because my son-in-law loves them a lot. “I could eat this the whole day long!”, he told me last time when I made them. This is his favorite sweet dish. He not only says this but really means it and I have seen him consuming a whole bunch of them in one go. Knowing that when he starts he can't help eating a whole bowl, I try to make them only on special occasions or birthdays.

I remember one incident, after coming back from a party, we were all discussing the food and the general opinion was that the caterer was not good because nobody enjoyed the food that day. My son-in-law said, “I had no problem, my meal was there - gulab jamun, and they were very nice!”. Later we came to know that the gulab jamuns were prepared by the lady herself who organized the party, not by the caterer.

Gulab jamuns can also be made using milk powder instead of mava or khoya. During my long stay in Africa, I always made gulab jamun with full cream milk powder, because mava was not available there. Though making them with milk powder is a bit time consuming because first we will have to make mava out of milk powder and then make gulab jamun out of that, but they taste as good as the traditional mava ones.

In this recipe I used mava, because it is easily available in Calgary, (Canada) this recipe is the traditional one, my sister-in-law gave me this recipe many years ago.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 500 grams mava or khoya *
• 100-gram white flour/ all purpose flour
• 50-gram chhena (home made paneer)
• ¼ teaspoon soda bicarb (baking soda)
• ½ cup water
• Oil for frying

For Sugar Syrup

• 750 grams sugar
• 500 grams water

METHOD

• Finely grate mava and mash chhena with fingers.
• Take all purpose flour, mix soda-bicarb in it.
• Now add mava and chhena in the flour, mix well, slowly, add water to make the soft dough.
• Pinch the small amount of dough and make small balls.
• Keep oil on a medium heat, once hot, reduce the flame, fry around 10 gulab jamuns, till golden brown on a slow flame.
• Take them out on a paper towel leave it to cool.
• In this way fry all of them.
• On the other gas, keep sugar and water in a saucepan to make sugar syrup, boil for 10-15 minutes. Switch off the gas, leave it to cool a bit.
• When the syrup and the gulab jamuns are warm, put them in the syrup and leave them in a flat tray so that gulab Jamun can absorb the syrup.

*Khoya or mava is a semi-solid form of milk which is easily available in Indian grocery shops in a fridge section.

Around 40-45 gulab jamuns can be made with this material depending on the size. They should be served hot, can be kept in a fridge for 2-3 weeks and can be warmed in a microwave for few seconds, care should be taken, they should not break. 

This recipe I am sending as my blog entry for the event.

And for First Blog Anniversary event, and recipe of the week event, and with Remmy's Kitchen, and with Delicious dish Tuesday,and Inspire me Monday, and what"d you do this weekend, and with meatless monday, and with Delectable Flavours.