Gulab Jamun

This sweet dish is another one of those from the Indian kitchen that needs no introduction so I will not write much about it. The soft sweet syrupy balls of goodness are every sweet lovers absolute favorite. These are in fact so popular that if you have ever been to an Indian restaurant even once in your life, chances are you have probably had Gulab Jamuns. In India they are sold by practically every place that carries anything sweet. Every high end or average restaurant, every odd sweet shop around the corner, every festival, every wedding dinner, if you stop by at a friend's place and they serve something sweet, more often than not, it will be these jamuns... you get the idea.
I will accept that they are a little tricky to make. The recipe is strictly to be adhered to and if you do, they come out great. It took me a couple of attempts to get it right but I am glad I tried. Here's my attempt to recreate these Jamuns from a recipe I really liked on Manjula's site.

Ingredients:

Nonfat milk powder ................................. 1 cup

All Purpose flour or maida .......................... 1/4 cup

Unsalted butter ....................................... 3 tbsp at room temperature

Whole milk ........................................... 1/4 cup at room temperature

Baking soda ........................................... a pinch

For the syrup

Sugar ................................................... 1 3/4 cup

Water .................................................. 1 1/2 cup

Green cardamom powder ........................... 1/4 tsp

Saffron ................................................. 5-6 strands

Chopped cashew or pistachios ..................... 1 tbsp for garnishing

Oil for deep-frying

Method:

For the syrup-

1. In a large pan, add water, sugar, cardamom powder and saffron and bring to a boil. Let the syrup boil for a minute then remove it from the heat.

2. Stir the syrup until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Set the syrup aside.

For 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. Let the dough sit for a few minutes. Milk powder will absorb the extra milk. If the dough is dry, add more milk, as the dough should be soft.

3. Knead the dough. Grease your hands with a little oil  before working with the dough.

Divide the dough into about 20 equal portions and roll them into round balls.

4. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. The frying pan should have at least 1½ inch of oil. 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. If dough rises faster, oil is too hot; if dough just sits without rising, oil is not hot enough.

5. Place the gulab jamuns in the frying pan. Remember gulab jamuns will expand to double the volume, so give them enough space.

6. It should take about 7 minutes to fry the gulab jamuns. While frying keep rolling the gulab jamuns around so they are evenly browned. Fry until the gulab jamuns become dark brown.

7. Let the gulab jamuns cool off for a few minutes before placing in the hot syrup.

The gulab jamuns should sit in the hot syrup for at least 20-30 minutes before serving. 

Notes:

1.Gulab jamuns can be kept at room temperature for about a week and up to one month when refrigerated. Gulab jamuns can be frozen for months.

2. If the gulab jamuns are fried on high heat, they will become hard inside and not fully cooked.Don’t put the gulab jamuns in the syrup immediately after frying. They will lose their shape and become chewy.

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