Sunday, November 11, 2007

Garma Garam Gulab Jamun

Another recipe from my SIL's archive of delicious desserts to devour and feel guilty later! My Maa, SIL and MIL are like a treasure-trove of dessert recipes. Even if I made one dessert per week, this lifetime is not enough, I bet!

My mom is here with me these days. So she makes the dishes that keep us alive and rocking (Second thoughts on rocking since I have gained so much weight now! Cherishing all that she churns out; sometimes from the most under-estimated ingredients!). I cook once in a while, most often desserts and snacks.

Though like a good daughter (!), when they were planning their US trip, I swore vehemently that I will take care of everything and would like Maa to use this as an opportunity to relax and chill out. Right from the evening she landed here, she has been the matron of the kitchen. Anyone else who has done the same, please confess so that I can feel better that "I am not the only one with this problem" :)

You guys must have guessed it from the scarcity of new posts on this blog. At least I would like to be under the impression that my fellow foodie bloggers missed me ;) Enough of babbling from my end, here is the recipe of gulab jamun. It involves two main steps - preparing the hot sugar syrup and dunking the fried gulab jamuns in the hot syrup to absorb the hot syrup and soften up.


Step 1 - SUGAR SYRUP PREPARATION
Water - 2 cups
Sugar - 2 cups
Saffron strands - few
Cardamom - 5-6 pieces

Heat water and sugar. Let it boil and sugar to melt. As it develops a slight golden color, add the saffron and cardamom. Keep it boiling till it is golden in color. It will be runny in consistency so that when you drop the fried jamuns in it the jamuns should be able to absorb the liquid. The whole process takes about 15-20 mins.

Step 2 - JAMUN PREPARATION (40-45 Jamuns)
Milk Powder - 2 cups
Flour - 2/3 cup
Baking soda (NOT baking powder) - 1 tsp
Heavy Cream - 1.5 cups (You can substitute with half-and-half milk 1 cup, but heavy cream is preferred)

Mix all the ingredients together. Make it a dough using heavy cream. It will be initially a little wet. Keep it aside for 30-45 minutes. It becomes thicker - more wet than roti/chapatti dough definitely.



Heat oil in Medium heat. Wet your hand with water and make 1 inch balls (NOTE - It will increase to at least twice its present size in the whole process due to the baking soda.) of the above dough. Drop it into the hot oil such that when you drop it, it should slowly bounce to the surface. The side which is inside the oil will slowly develop a dark brownish color. Turn it such that the top half facing you is next inside the oil and develops the same color.


Once the whole jamun is dark-brown in color, drop it into the hot sugar syrup of Step 1. Leave it aside for 1 min. Remove the jamun from the syrup and keep in a separate container. Once you are done with all the jamuns, pour the remaining sugar syrup on the prepared jamuns.

Storage - Keep refrigerated. Lasts for a week and a half at the least.

Serving suggestion - Serve warm. Surprise, surprise -- It is a good combination with cold vanilla ice-cream. Bon appetit!

19 comments:

Bong Mom said...

Don't worry Pragyan, thats what Moms are for :D. Actually I think they also get bored if they don't do anything as in both My Ma & MIl's case.

The gulab jamuns are yummy and the Pav Bhaji looked good too. have fun time with her.

KayKat said...

Mmm ... I haven't made these in a while, now you're tempting me :)

UjjU said...

Hi Pragyan,

Thanks for dropping by on my blog. Would love to try Gulab Jamun the way you've made it. I make potato Gulab Jamun usually. Shall try yours too. :)

UjjU

Rajitha said...

same here girl...when my parents were coming i promised myself that my mom would have complete rest...but there was poor amma day in and out in the kitchen ..then i thought why not on weekends..well all i can say is my mom got no rest here with me..and to be honest she would not have it any other way...am sure ur mom is the same...and those jamuns look soo good....

EC said...

I love gulab jamuns, but have always made it with the ready mix available in stores...will try out ur version,..thanks

FH said...

YUMMY! Jamuns are my fave sweet. Hope you had great Diwali P:)

Seema Bhat said...

Wow looks like you are spending goodie good time with your mommy. Gulab jamun from milk powder and heavy cream is something that I have always wanted to try. Thanks for the recipe and enjoy your time with you mom.

TBC said...

I love gulab jamuns. I think it has been 5-6 years since I had one of these:-(

Latha Narasimhan said...

I feel refrigeration hardens the jamun!? It stays for a week even when kept outside. BTW the recipe is nice and jamun is a favourite for many!:)

Finla said...

Yummy Who can resist moms cooking. Love the jammuns

Kribha said...

wow...your mommy's here? That's so nice. You don't have to feel bad about not cooking.I did the same thing too. My mom arrived just 2 weeks before my delivery. Until that I was doing all the work. But the moment she arrived I lifted only spoons in the kitchen ...that too to taste. It's ok yaar. Enjoy this time without feeling guilty. Moms would never consider us a burden.:-)
Did you read how I made jamuns in my diwali post? If not, you have to. Your's look delicious.

bee said...

lasts for a week and half? you mean you actually didn't finish this delicious dish in two days? :D

Cynthia said...

This is a lot simplier to make than I thought. Will definitely give it a try.

Mansi said...

Hey Pragyan! my first time here, and welcome to the food and tech world:) coz I'm a techie sizzling in the food world too!

Loved your gulab jamuns..It's lunch time and your paav bhaji and jamuns are luring me!!

Sagari said...

home made julab jamuns yummmmm those lookk delecioussssssssss

Anonymous said...

love those gulab jamuns... it's been ages since I had home made jamuns. my mom makes them using khoa.
don't feel guilty for letting your mom work. they get the most satisfaction seeing you savor the food :)
-pb

Viji said...

Who can resist this. Sorry for the late comment Pragyan. Viji

Tee said...

enjoy yourself while your mom is here...and no one can make moms sit down and not be in charge of the kitchen...so don't worry, its universal! :)
Gulab jamuns look so gorgeous...feel like picking the bowl off the screen. And I agree, warm gulab jamuns with cold vanilla ice cream rocks!!!!

Pragyan said...

Getting back to blogging after so many days, feels great to be back. Feel bad for not having kept up, visiting blogs, posting comments, etc, but I guess it happens!

Hi Sandeepa: I agree with you. Even if I disagreed, Maa won't have it any other way! Thanks for the nice comment.

Hi KayKat: Did I? ;)

Hi Ujju: Potato gulab jamun..never had those and can't imagine the taste also..I hope you have it posted in your blog.

Hi Rajitha: Same here. I don't do anything, just get tired worrying she will be tired :)

Hi EasyCrafts: Try with milk powder, you will forget the easy mixes. Somehow the easy mixes (dhokla, jamun) never worked for me..must be something about me.

Hi Asha: Thanks for the Diwali wishes. Sorry for the delay. Here I am wishing you a happy new year.

Hi Seema: Hope you tried this recipe. Thanks for the wishes.

Hi TBC: Ohh, thats sad. If you were in VA, I could have sent you some.

Hi Latha: Donno, but yeah it does become a different texture if kept in the fridge. Warming it for a few seconds does help though. I am with you that it a reliable dessert to make if you are not sure of your guest's taste.

Hi Happy Cook: Thanks, dear!

Hi Kribha: Nice to see you back. I did read your diwali post on Jamuns..quite an adventure, huh? :) Having a great time with mom, keep bothering her that every dish has to be something new! Will post a few interesting ones over the next few days.

Hi Bee: Well, no ;) They don't last for more than three days in my house!

Hi Cynthia: Hope you tried it, dear!

Hi Mansi: Cool, you are a techie too! Nice to dabble in both these worlds, na? Glad you liked them, dear!

Hi Sagari: Thank you. Thank you. :)

Hi Anonymous: My aunt-in-law is making some absolutely wonderful kala-jamuns these days with Khoya. Another one on my list to learn-recipes!

Hi VCuisine: Thanks, dear! Now I should say "Sorry for the late response"!!!

Hi Tee: Ha ha..sure dear! Jamun with ice-cream does rock! Wish I could have some right now right away!