Gulab Jamun… Yummy! It’s just the best desert, if you ask me! 😀
I have been wondering for a long time how to make gulab jamuns without the strange ingredient called mawa, which I have not been able to find in this country. A while ago, however, I realised that you can replace mawa with regular milk powder, thanks to the writer behind veggiebelly.com. She’s also a vegetarian, like me, so it’s great that you can find really good vegetarian recipes that I’m looking for 🙂
In my attempt to make gulab jamuns, the quantity was doubled and there were a few additions and subtractions here and there. The result came out very well, and since I made them on a Friday, they became Friday prayer prasadham, which incidentally also became giveaways for a really nice family I know. And I have to say that especially the youngest members of the family loved the cute little jamuns 😀
Ingredients (approx. 45-46 mini balls): Jamun:
* 2 cups milk powder – note, not coffee powder
* ½ tsp baking powder
* 1½ cups of wheat flour
* A pinch of salt
* 30 ml whole milk – You can also use water, but milk gives a better flavour 😉
* Cooking oil for deep frying
Sugar syrup:
* 1½ cups sugar
* 2 cups of water
* Possibly 2 tsp. vanilla – I love it 🙂 You can use cardamom instead to bring out the true Indian flavour 😉
Method; Jamuns:
Mix all the dry ingredients in a small bowl, then pour in some of the milk (about 20ml) and mix well. If the mixture is too dry, you can add the remaining 10ml of milk, but be careful not to do this as you risk the dough becoming too sticky and not firm. The mixture should be completely firm and not sticky, so you can make small firm balls out of it.
Heat the oil. While the oil is heating up, you can mould the dough into 45-46 small balls. Dip your hands in some oil, it’s much easier 🙂
Now deep fry the balls until they turn brown – not too brown, but similar to these:
Sugar syrup:
Pour all the ingredients for the syrup into a saucepan and heat it up, switching off the hob when the sugar has melted away and it starts to boil slightly.
Remove the pan from the stove and pour in the jamun balls, stirring regularly without breaking them. This will prevent the balls from sticking.
Leave it to stand so that the jamuns can absorb the liquid. After about half an hour, they can be served 😉
Gulab jamun is just yummy 😀
