Gulab Jamun

Ingredients:
For dough:
Milk powder - 1 cup
All-purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Whole milk - a few tsp
Ghee (or melted butter) - 2 tbsp

Oil for deep frying

For syrup:
Sugar - 2 cups
Water - 1 cup
Cardamom seeds, coarsely ground (optional) - 1/4

Time: 20 min (prep+cook)
Servings: 8

Method:
To make the dough, mix together the milk powder, flour and rub in the ghee/butter until well mixed. Now add milk in tiny tiny amounts and knead into a dough. Add just enough milk to make a medium-hard dough (if you find you added too much milk, add extra milk powder and flour to bring it back to required consistency - you'll just end up with more jamuns!)
Divide the dough into 12-14 balls of about 1" diameter. Set aside.
Mix the sugar into the water and heat on a medium flame for about 10 min. Turn the flame to simmer and begin deep frying the jamuns as below:
In a wok, heat the oil first on a high flame and then bring down to medium. Slide each of the balls slowly into the oil. Gently shake the wok to make sure that the oil covers the top sides of the balls. Within five minutes, the balls will increase in size and (if you have enough oil) bob up to the surface. At this point, gently keep turning over the balls with a slotted spoon to ensure even browning. When the balls start turning an even deep brown, slowly remove each ball with the slotted spoon, drain excess oil, and slide into the sugar syrup (which should be on an adjacent stove on simmer).
Let the balls soak in syrup overnight. Enjoy this delicious dessert warm or cold!

Note: Deep fry on medium flame as the balls have to cook on the insides before they turn brown on the outside.
Alternative serving suggestions:
a) Before frying, insert a small raisin into each ball for a different flavour
b) Serve warm a la mode! (Vanilla ice cream goes best!)

Author: Shrinkingsodacan