Gulabos(Gulab Jamun)

Deep fried sweet dumplings stewed in sugar syrup

TIPS TO GET YUMMY SOFT GULABOOS

1. Make sure you are using a good quality FULL-FAT milk powder. I prefer using Nido. Lesser qualities or low-fat powders may result in gulab jamuns which have a hard center.

2. If the dough doesn't come together easily, do not add any oil. You can add a bit of extra egg OR a few drops of milk until the dough is soft and comes together well.

3. Once the dough is prepared and the balls shaped, fry them on LOW heat. This ensures they are fully cooked all the way through. Frying them on high heat will result in hard centers as the jamuns will not get fully cooked.

4. Make sure the sheera/syrup that you will be adding the fried jamuns into is at ROOM TEMPERATURE or just WARM. It should not be boiling hot when you add the hot fried gulab jamuns. Adding hot jamuns to very hot syrup will tighten and shrink them and they will lose the lovely texture and shape.

INGREDIENTS FOR SHEERA

Sugar                                                               2 cups

Water                                                                 2 cup 
Orange color or some strands of saffron           pinch

Powdered cardamon                                        ¼ tsp.

METHOD

Heat all the ingredients together until the sugar dissolves, then give it a boil on low heat for about 3-5 minutes so it thickens slightly. Let it cool at room temperature This will make a bit extra sheera, you can store any excess in the fridge for your next batch of gulab jamuns. It keeps well.

INGREDIENTS FOR GULAB JAMUN

NIDO or any good quality powdered milk (or 2 palm-sized mawas approximately)      1 cup 

egg, beaten lightly                                                                                                      1 
semolina/sooji                                                                                                             1 tsp. 
white/plain/all-purpose flour                                                                                        2 tbsp.
baking powder                                                                                                            1 level tsp. 
Oil (for deep frying)                                                                                                    as required

METHOD

Combine the milk powder, baking powder, semolina and flour together.

Add in the egg, then mix it gently to make a soft dough. Now make small balls out of the dough. This should make about 16 balls. If the dough feels sticky, touch a bit of oil with your fingertips and then form the balls. If the dough is too hard, add a few drops of milk and knead it in until you can form smooth balls. Make sure you fry the balls immediately so that they don't dry out.

Heat oil on medium, add the gulab jamuns one at a time. Carefully, splash some of the oil over them gently. Lower the heat, if the oil is too hot they will burn from the outside and stay raw on the inside. So keep the oil really low whilst they fry, gently stirring the oil AROUND them so they turn around and get evenly colored. When they have doubled in size and are evenly browned all over, remove with a slotted spoon and put them directly into the sheera/syrup. Remember, the sheera should not be boiling hot, it should be kept on very low heat so that it's JUST slightly warm. They will expand a bit more as they soak up the syrup.

Tip: If you want the fried gulab jamuns softer, boil them in the sheera on very low heat for about 5 minutes whilst covered (put on dum). Then switch off and serve.

Garnish with chopped nuts and serve warm...enjoy!!!