Friday, January 1, 2010

Gulab Jamun.

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous New year my friends!

After a short vacation , I am very glad to present a well known Indian dessert , the Gulab Jamun.

Gulab means Rose flower and Jamun means a dark colored fruit called Naval pazham (Tamil). Mostly they soak the fried khoya dough balls in oil and soak them in rose scented sugar surup or honey or cardamom + saffron mixed sugar syrup.

The traditional method is to prepare / buy sugarless paal kova (khoya in Hindi / extremely condensed milk in form of creamy white semi solid) and mix it with maida flour to make jamuns.

It is my mother's technique to make gova at home by evaporating milk with lot of stirring, then add a tsp of rice flour + sugar to get the finishing touch. (For making GulabJamun we need not add sugar in ghova.) Then she would knead the gova (if we leave them behind ..hi hi) with careful addition of All purpose flour, baking soda ....mix them to get the small balls..fry them in ghee ..soak in sugar syrup....OMG! a lot of work ..huh!

But for me the easiest way is to buy a readymade Jamun mix. Anyways it still needs some technique to get a flawless one and I am giving out my procedure.



Ingredients:
Gulab jamun mix - 1 1/4 cup (250 ml)
(I used Gits brand)
water - 1/4 cup (Check instructions in your package carefully)

ghee / oil for deep frying - 100 ml

Sugar - 2 cups (400 gms)
water - 2 cups (equal measures of sugar)
Cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp
saffron - few strands.

Method:

Pour the mix from sachet in to a mixing bowl.

Using your hand gently break down all the lumps.

Immediately add all the water given in the instruction (adding little by little will create lumps and we may need more time to straighten it).
Mix well. At this stage the dough may seem a little sticky.
Allow it to sit for 5 minutes. Now the dough will become hard like chapathi dough.
Divide it into 20 equal parts and make smooth balls of 1 inch diameter with your hand.
Apply ghee / oil to make crack-less balls.
(If our dough is perfect ,we won't need oil to make it smooth).

Prepare sugar syrup in a wide vessel. Boil it for 10 minutes to get a single thread consistency.
(Single thread - If we pour the syrup by using a spatula , the last drop should fall as a single drop/ thread)
Add cardamom and saffron to it. Keep it in low heat.

Heat oil in a wok. Reduce flame to minimum and slowly fry the balls to a reddish brown color.
Drain oil and put it in hot syrup.

Take off the heat for sugar syrup now.

Likewise continue for all the jamuns and add them to the syrup.

Now leave it open till the gulabjamun gets cooled. Let them soak overnight or atleast 5 hours.

GulabJamun is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve it in small bowls with a generous helping of sugar syrup.
Decorate it with slivered almonds , pistachio (if desired).
Serve chilled as dessert after a grand dinner.

Tips:

The secret to get flawless gulabjamun lies in the dough and ball preparation. If we see any crack in the ball before frying, then redo it with very little ghee.
The diameter of the ball before frying should be 1 - 1.5 inches.

Important points:
One of the biggest challenges we face is to get a correct water + flour mixture.
So fry one ball, immerse in sugar solution and wait for 10 minutes to see if we get the correct taste. It is a must , if we make large batches.
If the jamun seems not cooked at center, then reduce the flame. Because high flame leaves the center raw.
If the jamun has more water content, ADD milk powder. NEVER add maida or any flour to suck the extra water added. It is very important hint in getting successful gulabjamuns. So keep some milk powder handy (Milk powders never go waste...hi..hi).
If the jeera is not absorbed properly, then increase the thickness of syrup by adding more sugar and heat to get a thicker sugar syrup.

37 comments:

Saju Sharfu said...

wonderful jamuns...
happy new year !!

chow and chatter said...

happy new year Viki, this is my fav Indian dessert yum

Gita Jaishankar said...

Hi Viki, Wish You a Very Happy New Year dear! I still need to perfect my techniques with gulab jamuns, thanks for sharing your tips and recipe dear, will try it again with your help :)..looks so perfect and tempting.

Indrani said...

WOW, mouth watering Jamuns...Wish you and your family a happy, healthy, peaceful and propperous new year

Tina said...

Yummy yummy jamuns....Looks delicious da..

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Yummy....Happy 2010

Soma Pradhan said...

Wish you a very happy new year...nice way to celebrate with gulab jamuns

Anu said...

wow mouthwatering jamuns... Can I get some of them?

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Wow wonderful jamun ..looks soooooooooooooooo yummy. Wish you Happy new year !!!

Sushma Mallya said...

Perfect sweet dish to start a wonderful year...happy new year viki

Aruna Manikandan said...

Lovely Jamuns....
Wishing u and ur family a Happy and a prosperous New Year

Nandinis food said...

Mmm!!! Heavenly Jamuns! It's divine! My favorite! Wish you a happy new year!

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Viki
Happy New year!!!
Opening the new year with sweets is a great sign of great food round the year!!! :-)
I love Gulab Jamun" and among the ready made ones, Gits is the best
have a nice weekend

Hari Chandana P said...

Lovely jamuns.. looks perfect and sooo delicious.. :)

Priya Suresh said...

Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year Viki, wat an excellent way to celebrate this new year, prefect jamuns..

Malar Gandhi said...

Thats so sweet to start the year with:) Yes, even the ready mix needs lot of work to do, I know...you really mastered it to the core' looks exactly like restaurant's one...simply flawless & too good:)

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

THEY ARE TEMPTING AND SOFT.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Yummy Jamuns! I like your short cut tricks...
Happy New Year - perfect for celebrating new year!

Lena Jayadev said...

happy new year Vikz darling.. :)

new year with gulab jamun is really rocking..wonderful click dear..came to know u wr in a short vacation...i was in a long vacation..lol.. :)
came to kerala for delivery...and im back after 2months...i dont knw how many days more i can be active in blogging..:)

Cynthia said...

Ummmm, wish I had a couple of these right now :)

Happy New Year!

Siddhi Shirsat said...

hey viki very nice n tempting gulab jamuns..n wish u n ur family a very happy n prosperous new year...

chakhlere said...

Lovely Gulabjams Viki. Nicely explained procedure.

Wish you and your family a very Happy New Year!!!

Ash said...

Hey Viki,

Thanks for the love shared on my post...... That introduces me to your nice & cute blog too....& lovely jamoons to start this year with....

Happy Celebrations!!!!

Wish You & your family a very happy year ahead.....

Ash...
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Cham said...

Such a lovely sweet to start the year.
Wishing U and Dear one a Wonderful Year 2010!

Padhu Sankar said...

Yummy gulab jamuns!
Happy New Year!
http://padhuskitchen.blogspot.com/

Ann said...

Darling perfect cute Jamuns..drooling over that..keep rocking in 2010 too !!

Yasmeen said...

Those are flawless GJs.I confess,still can't make them perfect.My best wishes to you too for the new year,dear Viki.Hope you had a blessed holidays :D

Unknown said...

Lovely jamuns. Wishes for a Happy 2010.

Namitha said...

Lovely jamuns..Happy New Year Viki !!!!

Jaleela Kamal said...

இனிய புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்கள் விக்கி


குலோப் ஜாமுன் ம்ம் ரொம்ப அருமையாக இருக்கு.

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Gulab Jamuns looks simply superb Viki.....

prasu said...

wow...........dear lovely jamuns...they are soooo perfect...keep rocking.

Rina said...

Your jamuns came out very smooth. Thanx for the sweet treat Viki!!! Happy new year to you !!!!

Sarah Naveen said...

Oh wow!!! That is terrific..wanna grab one..Yummy yumm!!!

Dori said...

Aren't these the best! I can't stop eating them when I make 'em! They look great :)

FoodLovers said...

happy new year viki ... gulab jamuns looks yummy dear

San!!! said...

Wow enticing jamuns wish i could eat all of them :D They look so inviting n so cute.How come it has turned so subtle n ridiculous,kewl work dudette.

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