Gulab Jamun

The dough is milk solids, and it fries at a low temperature.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (milk).

Ingredients

400 g khoya, milk reduced to a soft dough
60 g maida, plain flour
300 g sugar
400 ml water, for the syrup
6 green cardamom pods, bruised
2 tablespoons rose water
40 g almonds and cashews, slivered
ghee for deep frying

Method

THE DOUGH IS MILK SOLIDS, AND IT FRIES AT A LOW TEMPERATURE. Its article gives both and they belong together: milk is heated over a low flame until the water has gone and only the solids, khoya, remain; those are kneaded with maida into small balls; and the balls are deep-fried in ghee AT A LOW TEMPERATURE. The low heat is not caution. A ball of milk solids browns on the outside in seconds while the middle is still raw and chalky, and the only way to cook it through is to take several minutes over it.
THE FLOUR IS A BINDER AND THERE IS VERY LITTLE OF IT. Sixty grams to four hundred. More and the balls go bready instead of melting.
THE KHOYA IS KNEADED SMOOTH, NOT MIXED. Worked with the heel of the hand until it is a soft dough with no grain in it. Any lump left is a hard spot in the finished sweet.
THE BALLS ARE ROLLED WITH NO CRACKS. Smooth all over. A crack opens in the fat and the ball falls apart.
THEY ARE DROPPED INTO WARM GHEE AND NOT TOUCHED AT FIRST. Around a hundred and thirty degrees. They sink, then rise after a minute or two, and only then are they moved.
THEY ARE TURNED BY SWIRLING THE PAN, NOT BY POKING THEM. Five to seven minutes to an even deep brown.
THE SYRUP IS LIGHT, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SPECIFIES. Three hundred grams of sugar to four hundred millilitres of water, boiled three minutes. A heavy syrup cannot get into the ball, and the ball is supposed to double.
THE FLAVOURINGS GO IN THE SYRUP OFF THE HEAT. Its article names green cardamom and rose water, with kewra or saffron as alternatives. Rose water boiled is rose water wasted.
THEY SOAK FOR HOURS, NOT MINUTES. Warm balls into warm syrup, left two hours at least. They swell visibly and that is the finished state.
ITS ARTICLE PAIRS THEM WITH SOMETHING COLD. Served warm with kulfi, which is a page here, or with vanilla ice cream.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes