PERFECT YUMMY GULAB JAMUN
Perfect yummy gulab jamuns are easy to make at home if you have the right recipe. Now, the wait is over and you have a fail-safe recipe in your hands and you can make the softest, melt in the mouth gulab jamuns at home.
This classic festive dessert is authentically made with milk solids (mawa). The deep-fried round balls of mawa are deep-fried in ghee and then soaked in sugar syrup flavored with rose water, cardamom, and saffron.
But mawa is not readily available at all places and making mawa at home calls for your time. So to make life easier this recipe gives step by step method to prepare gulab jamun using milk powder. Being in Kuwait for almost 15 years now I have always made gulab jamun using Nido milk powder and Nestle thick cream. It makes the perfect dessert to serve on Diwali, Holi, and Rakshabandhan.
Moreover, if you want to have only one dessert for happy occasions like birthday parties , get-togethers gulab jamun is most preferred.
Because we hadn't had any gulab jamum for sometimes, I made this creamy , delicious delicacy to satisfy the sweet tooth of my family. Also, I have been wanting to post the recipe of the yummiest homemade gulab jamuns for my readers. I added spices like saffron and cardamon for some warmth and to keep the chill of winter at bay.
A bowl full of hot gulab jamuns in winters is divine. I remember in India during winter food streets will have vendors with big kadai full of hundreds of this delicious sweet delicacy. Who can resist perfect, soft, and yummy gulab jamun when surrounded by not a bowl full but a kadai full that to served with delicious rabri or ice-cream ? Not me.
Aren't you drooling now ?
So let's learn some tips and tricks to make perfect gulab jamuns using milk powder.
TIPS AND TRICKS TO PERFECT GULAB JAMUNS
Making sugar syrup- Add all the ingredients for the syrup in a pan, switch the flame to medium-high and let the sugar melt. Once the sugar melts and the solution comes to a boil, turn the flame to medium-high and let the solution simmer for 7 to 8 minutes or till it turns a little sticky. Do not go for string consistency.
If the sugar syrup is thick the jamuns will not absorb the syrup and it will result in a hard chewy center.
Making the dough- Always use full-fat milk powder to make gulab jamun. Add all-purpose flour and a teaspoon of ghee and knead it with thick cream and make a soft sticky dough.
Do not over-knead the dough as it gives hard and chewy gulab jamuns. Just mix till all comes together.
Rolling to spherical balls- Let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Grease your clean hands with ghee and just pinch and take a small portion of dough and make small spherical balls of it. Do not apply pressure while rolling to the dough to make balls. Work with light hands.
Make sure the roll out gulab jamun balls are smooth and crack-free. Frying the gulab jamun- The most important thing is to fry the gulab jamun on low flame so that it is cooked from inside otherwise it turns hard at the center when you soak in sugar syrup.
If you think the ghee or oil is to hot while frying switch off the flame for a minute to reduce the temperature of ghee. I often do it to fry the gulab jamuns evenly till center.
I fry the gulab jamun in ghee however you can use ghee and vegetable oil in a 1:1 ratio. Adding the jamuns to the syrup- Once the jamuns are nicely golden brown in color take it out on an absorbent paper and let it cool down for 5 to 7 minutes before adding it to warm sugar syrup. Remember the syrup should not be too hot. It should be warm.
If you add the hot fried jamuns to the warm syrup immediately after frying without letting it cool down for a while, the jamuns will shrink and deform and will not absorb the syrup till the center again resulting in a hard chewy center.
If you follow these tips , I am sure you will have the yummiest ever melt-in-mouth jamuns in your plate.
Cuisine : Indian
Course : Dessert
Prep time : 25 minutes includes resting time for the dough
Cooking time : 20 minutes
Servings : 23-25
Ingredients
For gulab jamun dough
1 Cup Nido full-fat milk powder
1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Tin Nestle thick cream, original
1 Tsp ghee
1/2 Tsp baking powder
1/4 Tsp baking soda
Ghee for frying
For sugar syrup
1 Cup sugar
1 and 3/4 Cup water
3-4 Cardamom pods
Few saffron threads
Instructions
Sugar syrup solution
1. In a pan add sugar , water, crushed cardamom, and saffron thread and keep the flame to medium-high, and let the sugar melt. Keep stirring occasionally. Once the sugar melts and the solution starts to boil reduce the flame to medium-slow. Let the syrup boil for 7-8 minutes or until sticky. The syrup of gulab jamun is thin and does not require any string consistency. Switch off the flame and set it aside.
Gulab jamun dough
2. In a bowl sieve milk powder, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. Add ghee and mix thoroughly using your hands to form a crumbly mixture.
4. Add nestle thick cream and mix gently to form a soft dough. The dough will be sticky.
5. Apply ghee in your hands and gently roll the dough with your hands in the bowl. It will become smooth and will not stick in your hands and to the bowl now. Do not over-knead or press the dough hard while kneading. Work with light hands. Cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Frying Gulab jamun
6. Grease your hands with little ghee, take a teaspoon of the dough and gently roll it in between your palms to make perfect crack-free balls.
7. Heat ghee in kadai, once it is hot reduce the flame to the lowest and then drop the gulab jamun balls in the hot ghee.
8. Fry nicely until they are dark golden brown in color. Keep the flame at lowest throughout and keep rolling the gulab jamuns to fry evenly Be patient while frying as it takes time.
9. Transfer the fried golden brown gulab jamun balls on a kitchen towel/tissue paper and let it cool down for 5 minutes.
Soaking in sugar syrup
10. Once the gulab jamun balls have cooled down then add them to warm sugar syrup.
11. Once you have fried and added all the gulab jamuns in the sugar syrup cover the pan with a lid and switch on the flame at medium-high and let the sugar syrup starts bubbling.
12. As soon as the syrup starts bubbling switch off the flame. Do not open the lid at this stage. Let the jamuns sit in syrup and absorb the syrup nicely for 2 hours then open the lid. You will see that jamuns have swelled up.
13. Serve hot.
Ready to satisfy your sweet tooth today.......with gulab jamun ?
Recreate it in your kitchen and do not forget to mention in the comments section how it came out? I would love to hear from you.
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