Gulab Jamun is a popular Indian and Pakistani sweet dish comprised of fried milk balls in a sweet syrup flavoured with cardamom seeds and rosewater or saffron. It originates from Bengal and is pronounced "Gulab Jambuh" in regional languages such as Gujarati. Mixes and finished products are often available in supermarkets, though it is still popular to be made from scratch.
Illustrated Recipe
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 cups dry milk powder
- 1 cup Bisquick pancake mix
- A bit more than 3/4 cup warm milk
- 2T butter, melted
Syrup
- 2 cups water
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 cardamom pods
Cooking
- Preheat canola oil, 1.5-2 inches deep in a small sauce pan. Oil should be at medium heat.
- Add together the milk powder, Bisquick and melted butter in a metal bowl.
- Slowly add the warmed milk, 2T at a time. Use a wooden spoon to collect the dry ingredients into a dough ball. Continue adding milk until all dry ingredients have been collected. The dough should be firm and moist, but not sticky. If you put too much milk, add a bit more dry ingredients (maintaining the ratio of 3 parts milk powder to 1 part bisquick).
- Roll into evenly sized balls (if they are not even, they will not cook at the same rate). As the balls dry out quickly, do not wait more than a few minutes before frying.
- Drop a few balls into the oil (don't overfill - they will get larger as they heat). They will sink to the bottom, then float to the top of the oil. They must be stirred regularly to keep them browning evenly.
- When dark brown, remove from the oil and place on paper to absorb the oil.
- Repeat until all are made.
Syrup
- Break cardamom seeds from their pod
- Separate seed, and bash to release flavor
- Mix water, syrup and cardamom and heat for 10 minutes (do not overheat as syrup will caramelize)
- Transfer to Corning Ware dishes and combine to soak finished Gulam Jamuns overnight
Serve finished Gulab Jamuns warm or cold
Image:Gulabjamun-1.JPG|a. Dough ready for rolling into balls
Image:Gulabjamun-2.JPG|b. Balls ready for frying
Image:Gulabjamun-3.JPG|c. Frying...
Image:Gulabjamun-4.JPG|d. Frying...
Image:Gulabjamun-5.JPG|e. Regular stirring ensures even color...
Image:Gulabjamun-7.JPG|f. Gulab Jamuns ready to come out...
Image:Gulabjamun-8.JPG|g. Cooling down after frying
Image:Gulabjamun-10.JPG|h. Cardamom seed as purchased
Image:Gulabjamun-11.JPG|i. Cardamom after gentle tap
Image:Gulabjamun-12.JPG|j. Bashing seeds to release fragrance, flavor
Image:Gulabjamun-13.JPG|k. Gently heating syrup
Image:Gulabjamun-14.JPG|l. Combined, finished Gulab Jamuns soaking in syrup
See also
External links
Gulab Jamun | Gulabjaman | Indian desserts