Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Milk Donuts in Sugar Syrup or Gulab Jamun




Gulab Jamun is one of my favorite indian desserts.  It is simply a milk donut soaked in syrup.  I love eating it warm.   I have tried making this recipe many time but every time I soak the gulab jamuns in the syrup my gulab jamuns will shrink and harden.  I finally realised that the key to making gulab jamun successfully is in the temperature of the syrup and the fried gulab jamuns. Please refer to my tips below. 

Ingredients
1 cup nonfat milk powder
1/4 cup All Purpose flour (plain flour, maida)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup room temperature whole milk
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup water
4 cardamom pods ground finely
some crushed pistachios
Oil for deep-frying


Direction
1.  First prepare the syrup for soaking the fried gulab jamuns. In a pan combine the water 
     and sugar and bring it to a boil. Once the sugar has melted add in the cardamom powder        and let it boil for a few more seconds before turning off the flame.  Set the syrup aside.  
2.  In a bowl, mix the milk powder, flour and baking soda.
3.  Next add the butter and mix well. 
4.  Slowly add in the milk a little at a time to form a soft dough. The dough will look pretty 
     soft but will harden slightly after a few minutes. Keep it aside for a about 10 minutes.
5.  Grease the palms of your hand with some butter, knead the dough and form into small 
     balls. This recipe will make around 8-10 small balls
6.  Heat enough oil to deep fry the balls on medium low heat.  When the oil is hot add the             balls slowly and deep fry them. The balls will double in size so do not add too many balls.
7.  Keep rolling the balls in the oil so that they brown evenly.  Remove from the oil and drain 
     the gulab jamun on a paper towel. Let the gulab jamuns cool for a few minutes before 
     adding the gulab jamuns into the hot syrup. 
8.  Let the gulab jamuns sit in the syrup for at least 30 minutes prior to serving. Garnish the 
      gulab jamuns with some crushed pistachios.

Tips:
1.  The non-fat milk must be in powder form before measuring otherwise this recipe will not 
     work.  My non-fat milk powder is rough and granular so I always grind to a fine powder 
     before measuring the milk powder for this recipe.
2.  When making the syrup, heat the syrup until the sugar dissolves and is hot. You do not 
      have to boil it.  Ensure that the syrup is just hot when adding the deep fried gulab 
      jamuns, however if the syrup is boiling hot or is hotter than the temperature of the fried 
      jamuns, the gulab jamuns will shrink and harden.  
3.  Make sure that the jamuns are fried in low heat otherwise the jamuns will brown too 
     quickly and the center will not be cooked through.
4.  After deep frying, let the jamuns drain on the paper tower for 2-3 minutes before adding 
      the gulab jamuns to the hot syrup. 

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