Gulab Jamun

Ingredients
• Nonfat milk powder – 1 cup
• All purpose flour (plain flour, maida) – ¼ cup
• Room temperature unsalted butter – 3 tsp
• Room temperature whole milk – ¼ cup
• Pinch of baking soda
• Sugar – 1 ¾ cup
• Water – 1 ½ cup
• Coarsely grounded cardamom seeds – 4
• Sliced almonds and pistachio – 1 tsp
• Oil for deep-frying

Preparation
For Syrup:
1. In a large pan, add water, sugar, and ground cardamom seeds and bring it to a boil.
2. Let the syrup boil for a minute then remove it from the heat.
3. Stir the syrup until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Set the syrup aside.

For Gulab Jamun:
1. In a bowl, mix milk powder, flour and baking soda; add the butter and mix well.
2. Now add milk to make soft dough. The dough will be sticky.
3. Let the dough sit for a few minutes; milk powder will absorb the extra milk.
4. If the dough is dry, add more milk, as the dough should be soft.
5. Knead the dough. Grease your hands with butter before working with the dough.
6. Divide the dough into about 20 equal portions and roll them into round balls.
7. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
8. The frying pan should have at least 1 ½ inch filled with oil.
9. To test if the oil is the right temperature, place a small piece of dough into the oil; it should take a minute to rise.
10. If dough rises faster, oil is too hot; if dough just sits without rising, oil is not hot enough.
11. Place the gulab Jamuns in the frying pan.
12. Gulab jamuns will expand in double the volume, so give them enough space. It should take about 7 minutes to fry the gulab jamuns.
13. While frying keep rolling the gulab jamuns around so they are evenly browned. Fry until the gulab jamuns become dark brown.
14. Let the gulab jamuns cool off for a few minutes before placing in the hot syrup.
15. The gulab jamuns should sit in the hot syrup for at least 20 minutes prior to serving.
16. Gulab jamuns can be kept at room temperature for about a week and up to one month when refrigerated.

Serves
5-6 Persons

By Bhaktin Sushma