Gulab Jamun from scratch: An indian sweet fit for the kings.

SNC#2- North Team challenge- Gulab Jamun

Divya Pramil of You too can cook Indian Food is the brain behind SNC challenge - recipe exchange where two teams challenge each other with their authentic recipes. The teams get a month’s time to prepare the recipe and post on their spaces. This is the 2nd event of the series and this November months challenge was posted by Pallavi (Northern team) and Yasodha ( South team)

A bit about Gulab Jamun 

The history says that Gulab jamun originates from an Arabic dessert called Luqmat Al-Qadi and became popular during the Mughal era.

In Nepal it is widely known as Lalmohan,The Persian word Gulab (गुलाब) means rose, as rosewater syrup is often used, although saffron syrup and honey are also common.

Jamun may refer to the jambul fruit, which is usually of a similar size to pieces of the dessert. There are various claims regarding the originator of the dish, with some saying a Sikh chef named Sajjan Dhillon first prepared it as a delicacy for the king of Jalalabad. The dessert also became popular throughout the Ottoman Empire.

Variants: 

Kemal Pasha dessert

Kemal Pasha dessert is a dish that is very similar to gulab jamun. It originates from the district of Kemalpaşa,Bursa, in Turkey. Traditionally it is made using a variety of cheese that is particular to the region.

Kala jamun, "black jamun"

Gulab jamun gets its brownish red color because of the sugar content in the milk powder or khoya or bread. In other types of gulab jamun, sugar is added in the dough, and after frying, the sugar caramelization gives it its dark, almost black colour, which is then called kala jamun, "black jamun".

Canadian Jamun

The sugar syrup may be replaced with (slightly) diluted maple syrup for a gulab jamun with a Canadian flavour.

Here is how I made it.

I had a sweet helper this time too :-)

Recipe

Ingredients

Milk Powder - 1 cup
Ghee/Clarified butter - 3 tbsp
Rava/semolina - 1 1/2 tbsp
Plain flour - 2 tbsp
A pinch of baking powder ( see below before adding it to ur mix pls)
Milk - 3 tbsp

Oil/ghee to fry

Sugar -  1 cup
Water - 1 cup

Few drops of rose water
A pinch of Cardamom powder

Chopped almonds - 1 tbsp , to garnish

Method:

- Sift the milk powder, flour, semolina and baking powder.

- To this, add the ghee and mix well, like u would for puttu or naan. Now add the milk, 2 tbsp to start with, and make soft dough out of it. Add another tbsp if you feel the mix is dry.

- Bring the dough together and using the palm of one hand and fingers of other and then between both palms a ball and place in a bowl. Cover with oiled cling film and let it sit for 20-30 min.

- Meanwhile, in a pan bring the sugar and water to the boil. Make sure the sugar dissolves completely. Add the gulab jal/rose water. Keep it aside till further use.

- Make small balls out of the dough. In a deep pan pour sufficient oil that can immerse the dough balls completely. Heat the oil on full flame. Once it smokes, reduce the flame to medium. After the smoke disappears, add one dough ball first. If it turns black on the outside, reduce the flame to low-medium. We are looking for an inviting brown color on the dough balls.

- You may fry 2-3 at a time depending on the size of ur pan. But be sure to constantly roll the balls in the oil so that they get an even color.

- Remove with a slotted spoon and add directly to the warm sugar syrup.

- To serve, put a few balls of the gulab jamun, some syrup and garnish with almond slivers.

Confession:

Now, I had a few hiccups while trying to make it.

Everthing went well, I was happy with my pictures, until I dropped my first jamun ball in oil. To my horror, it started disintegrating, the disintegrated bits started to burn in the hot oil and my fire alarm went off. I quickly closed my kitchen door, opened the door out, like u do in these circumstances, and when I looked at my hot oil pot, the jamun was no where to be found. It had disappeared to leave tiny black dots fo burnt stuff.

Now, where did I go wrong!! How can I face myself. :-) .The only difference to the recipe I am used to preparing was the baking powder. Did I use too much of it was my question.

Google came to the 'rescue'. Various people had posted about this same experience and too much baking powder was the culprit apparently each time.

A pinch of mine could have been a bit more that needed. The second time I avoided it, for a better result.

I called out to the SNC team for help, and God they were so helpful. U guys rock. I learnt  a lot during this challenge. I suppose that's what these challenges are all about. Thank u very much my dears for the support first of all, not making me feel like a fool, and those outstanding tips u shared.

Tips I learnt:

- Add as less or avoid baking powder if u r vary of the results.

- Keeping the balls in refrigerator during the resting period helps them not to break.

- Maintaining low to medium heat is essential for the inside to be cooked and the outside to be not burnt.