Home made Gulab Jamun

 The last time I made gulab jamuns several years ago they came out so hard that I had to re-christen them "Rock Jamuns". The only saving grace that day was the fact that I made the sugar syrup with a dash of brandy so the adults were quite pleased with the overall effect.

Today is my husband's birthday and I made biriyani.  To finish off the meal, rather than have cake we decided to make Gulab Jamuns.  My daughter was tasked with making them as she has a knack for making desserts and I must say they have come out really good!

This recipe is from Taste.com.au and since the jamuns turned out soft and nice we have decided to incorporate this in the blog for us so we can use it again.

 

Ingredients:

For the syrup:

2 cups water

2 cups caster sugar

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

1/4 teaspoon rose water essence

For the doughnuts:

1 cup full cream milk powder

1/2 cup self raising flour

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

25 grams butter, chopped

1/3 cup water

About 2 cups vegetable oil for frying

For Decorations:

A tablespoon of chopped pistachios

some edible silver leaf

Method:

In a saucepan, add the water, sugar and cardamom seeds.  Cook stirring in medium heat until sugar dissolves and the syrup gets thick - about 10 minutes . You do not want the syrup to be too thick or the doughnuts will not be able to soak.  Add the rosewater essence and set aside.

In a large bowl, add the milk powder, flour, soda bicarbonate and ground cardamom.  Work the butter into the mix until the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.  Add water little by little to make a soft and sticky dough.  Shape into balls and set aside on a tray.

Heat oil in a large wok. Add a cube of bread into it and if the bread turns golden brown in about 20 seconds, the oil is hot enough. Reduce the heat of the oil and cook the first batch of doughnuts. They should go golden brown and a skewer inserted into it should come out clean.

Continue cooking them till they are all done.

Place the doughnuts in a dish in a single layer and pour the warm syrup on top.  Let it soak for at least half an hour.  Decorate with chopped pistachios and silver leaf.

Serve on its own or with vanilla ice cream.