Kitchen Tantra

Gulab Jamun:

(Fried Milk balls in Sugar Syrup)

This is one of the common dessert in India.....yet I couldnt make it perfect for several times. I went through hard times in making it. Most of the time either by 'Jamuns' have fissure or crack while frying are the sugar syrup wont be thick enough. Every time I will forget that the 'Jamuns' have the tendency to bulge in syrup.....so I always kind of messed it so many times.

Generally 'Jamuns' are prepared with 'fresh sugar-less Kowa'. 'Kowa' or 'Milk Kowa' is nothing but......milk consolidated to extreme limit, by slow cooking. The stage where it is in solid form, just like 'fudge'. One should not add sugar to this 'Kowa' if you want to prepare 'Jamuns'. Anyway.....I am going to give some short-cut method here to prepare this.

Ingredients:

Milk Kowa(consolidated milk without sugar) or skim milk powder 1 bowl
Whole milk - just 1/2 cup for making dough
Ghee/clarified butter for preparing dough
Rose essence few spoons
Cardamon pods 6-8 semi crushed
Saffron few strands
Sugar 3 cups for making syrup
Ghee for deep frying
Few sliced pista nuts for decoration
Few saffron strands for decoration.

Method:

Add just cover level water over sugar......and prepare a thick sugar syrup. Add cardamons and saffron to this syrup.....while boiling it. One should make it till pearly consistency is acheived. Its nothing but.....boil sugar with limited water, over medium heat. Take a 1/4 spoon of syrup and drop it in a cup of water, when the syrup settles down like a pearl but did not disintegrate in water. Then it is in right point. Never heat it beyond this point. It would become very sticky......and total disaster.

Then....filter the syrup and try to have in a large bowl....where you can drop Jamuns later.

Well.....bring the kowa/ skim milk in a large bowl. Try to remove lumps from it. Add baking powder and baking salt to this. Now slowly add rose essence to the cup of milk. Add this milk little by little to the kowa. Prepare a smooth dough.

Greese your palm with ghee, then try to make small balls/elliptical shape nuggets out of it. Make sure that you are not over pressing them and at the same time....the balls should not have any fissure/crack in it. Try to make them smooth. Maybe.....you should spent time for this. Once done with it....place them evenly over a plate.

Meanwhile heat ghee/oil. Its always good to use ghe.....it has very good flavor. Fill 3/4 of the wok with ghee/oil. Your balls should be immersed in it. So......need generous oil. Heat them over medium heat.

Fry the balls. Just fry few at a time. Never load the oil. Fry till golden-reddish brown. Remove quickly from oil and place them over kitchen tissues. The milk balls have the tendency to bulge and crack sometimes. Dont prolong the time while frying....it may turn brown too quickly.

So....while they are still warm, drop them in sugar syrup. There should be plenty of room in the container....as the balls/Jamuns will bulge to 2-3 folds.

Place them in fridge for complete 5-7 hours. Let the Jamuns get well soaked in syrup. Then garnish with pista nuts and saffron strands.

Serve chilled as dessert.

Labels: Sweets