Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Gulab Jamuns ( Indian Milk Based Sweet )



Today's sweet is the delicious Gulab jamun, an absolutely melt-in-the-mouth favourite Indian dessert and is a living embodiment of Indian mithai (sweet) tradition.Gulab jamus are golden brown balls in flavored sugar syrup. They are served warm or at room temperature.

The main ingredient in most Indian sweets is 'khoya' (hindi)/koova (telugu) which is a thickened form of milk and forms a base in most creamy sweets like gulab jamun.Gulab jamun is basically a sweet from North India and is a sweet which one enjoys eating hot during winters.

Ingredients to make the gulab jamuns:

1 cup khoya (kovva)can be prepared by boiling and continuously stirring one litre of milk on medium heat till it form a thick paste.
3/4 cup maida (all purpose flour)
1/4 tsp cooking soda (soda bi carbonate)
enough ghee(clarified butter)for deep frying the jamuns
3 tbsps of prepared sugar syrup (warm)
1-2 tbsps of warm milk (not hot)



Ingredients to prepare the sugar syrup:

2 cups water
2 cups sugar
3-4 crushed cardomoms (optional)

Preparation of Sugar Syrup

The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm.To make the sugar syrup,mix 2 cups of sugar to 2 cups of water in a deep cooking dish. Add 3-4 cardamom pods, slightly crushed. Stir constantly with a spoon on medium heat for 15-18 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat..as the sugar might caramelize.
Transfer this hot syrup into a serving dish. Keep warm on stove.



Sieve the flour(maida).Add the khoya and baking powder to the flour(maida) and mix well.It will appear like bread crumbs.



Now add 3 tbsps sugar syrup and 1-2 tbsps of milk (warm but not hot milk) to make a soft dough.The milk can be adjusted to form a soft dough.Keep aside for half an hour.
After half an hour knead it again and make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball.You can shape into small balls or longitunal shapes.Place the balls on a plate.Keep aside.



Heat the ghee in a deep frying dish to medium heat and then turn to low heat and slip in the jamuns into the ghee from the side of the deep frying dish, one by one.
Remove the deep frying dish from fire and the jamuns will rise above the ghee in a minute.
Now bring the dish back to fire and on low heat fry the jamuns gently stirring constantly.



The jamuns must be gently and constantly stirred to ensure even browning on all sides.Keep turning the jamuns until they are a golden brown all over.

If the temperature of the ghee is too high then the gulab jamuns might break. The temperature should be adjusted to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly. The balls must be fried very slowly under low temperature. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.



Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. They can be served warm or at room temperature.



Gulab jamuns can also be served with ice cream,kulfi or fresh cream.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow,delicious ! my mouth is watering-- can't resist jamoons .

Sailu, thanks for the recipe -It looks so much like Bangalore's Arya bhavan's jamoons -will make this for the next weekend!

Anonymous said...

It's me once again, I would like to rate this 10/10
Great pictures !!

sailu said...

Thanks,lera.It does take some work to make good gulab jamuns and cooking them takes effort and care.Jamuns have always been my weakness..:)

Mika said...

They look delicious, Sailaja. Can you make dry kala jamun with this recipe?

Stephanie said...

The very first time I dined at an Indian restaurant, I tried Gulab Jamuns. I wasn't ready for the texture, though...it was actually my frist time eating Indian food...period!

Thankfully, I've not only learned to love Indian cuisine, but those tasty sweet balls, too!

Anonymous said...

hi, these jamuns look so lovely and ur step by step pics are really helpful.But here in Hong kong i wouln't be able to get KHOYA. Can it be made at home or is their any replacement?
thanx

sailu said...

yes anonymous,khoya can be prepared at home. Take 1 cup of milk powder and add enough water to be able to knead it to a smooth dough.Then add two tsps ghee and continue to knead well. It is very important that the kneading be done well.
Alternately you can use ricotta cheese..but I havent tried with it so I cant vouch for it.Hope this helps.

ammani said...

They look so yummy. Mine always tend to crack while frying. Help!