Gulab Jamun

These spongy, melt in your mouth balls need absolutely no introduction. Its popular all over India. The one festival that comes in my mind when I think of GULAB JAMUN, is Diwali! The night before Diwali, my mom makes dozens of these to be given to family & friends on Diwali. And she made these for every Diwali as far as I can remember. My bro buys the readymade jamun mix and I used to help my mom shaping the jamuns (I was a kid that time) and she would fry it and soak them in sugar syrup. This dessert definitely holds beautiful memories for me.  

Then we made these with Khoya and we never bought the readymade mix again. So, don't wait till Diwali, I know you already want to...A grand dessert that can be made easily! 

You Will Need:

For the Jamuns:

250gms of Unsweetned Khoya, at room temperature.

75 gms of Plain Flour

Oil to Deep Fry

For the Sugar Syrup:

1.5 Cups of Water

1.5 Cup of Sugar

1 tsp Rose Water

1 Cardamom

Sliced Almonds to Garnish!

The Cooking:

Making the Jamuns:

Place the khoya in a wide bowl and mix with your hands till smooth & not lumpy. Then add the flour and again mix them together to form a smooth dough.

Cover it with a wet tea towel and rest the dough for 30 mins. Make small balls out of the dough.

Note: Big Jamuns pose a risk of cooking unevenly.

Note: Cover the jamun balls with wet tea towel to avoid them drying out.

Heat a heavy bottom kadai with oil. Drop the jamuns one at a time and cook till they are light brown.

Note: I always do a test jamun first. Just fry one and see if its holding its shape and is cooked through. Cracks, soggy or not holding its shape then add little flour. Mix well and fry. 

Note: Keep the heat down. When fried on high temperature the center will be uncooked and the outside will brown very quick.

Note: DO NOT CROWD the kadai. Fry in small batches.

Note: DO NOT STIR as soon as you them in, they will break. Wait for a min and gently nudge them to the surface.

Once done place them on a paper towel to observe excess oil.

Meanwhile, add the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then add the crushed cardamom and rose water. Simmer this for few mins till the syrup is sticky and little thick.

Add the fried jamuns to the sugar syrup and let it soak till serving. 

Happy Cooking!