[Photographs: Nik Sharma]
Gulab jamuns occupy a very talked-about place within the massive household of Indian desserts. I think their reputation stems from their easy but marvelous building: little, fried balls of a milk-based dough which might be soaked in a syrup scented with inexperienced cardamom, saffron, rose water, and different spices, served heat or at room temperature. The floral, fruity high quality of the syrup is especially vital; “gulab jamun” actually interprets to “rose water” and “black plum” (a sort of Indian fruit).
You can describe gulab jamun as a sort of doughnut or funnel cake, and as Michael Korndl notes in The Donut: Historical past, Recipes, and Lore from Boston to Berlin, there are a few theories about its origins within the Islamic world: it both got here to be in historical Persia, the Central Turkic areas, or throughout the Mughal Empire’s reign in India. However whereas there are some similarities to doughnuts—it’s, in any case, fried dough—I imagine the components used of their building make them sufficiently totally different to justify being thought-about a class of their very own.
Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at what goes into gulab jamuns.
Milk Solids
Historically, one of many essential components for gulab jamun dough is khoya (also called khoa, or mawa), a type of dried milk that’s ready by simmering a big and extensive pot of milk slowly over a number of hours till all of the water evaporates, abandoning the milk solids. Khoya is offered in blocks in Indian grocery shops and it have to be finely grated earlier than it’s used to make gulab jamun dough. Paneer can be generally used as an alternative of khoya, as is chenna, which has similarities to paneer in that it consists of acid- and heat-coagulated milk proteins, however it isn’t pressed to specific any extra liquid.
Nonetheless, for this recipe, I selected to make use of non-fat dry milk powder as an alternative of khoya, paneer, or chenna, as a result of it’s way more extensively available in shops. Since non-fat dry milk is basically made up of milk proteins and the milk sugar lactose, it produces an analogous texture and taste profile.
Flour or Semolina
Whereas gulab jamun are primarily made up of the milk proteins, regardless of their supply, the balls want slightly help with the intention to keep collectively and maintain their form within the fryer, so a small quantity of flour and/or semolina are included into the dough. I’ve discovered semolina to work finest, partly due to its comparatively massive grain dimension; the massive particle dimension of semolina helps cut back gluten formation, which in flip means tender gulab jamun.
As a result of the semolina gained’t take up a lot of the liquid used to make the dough, it have to be soaked in milk previous to including it to the remainder of the dough components. This helps hold the interiors of the gulab jamuns moist.
Remember that this can be a comparatively dry dough and is sort of agency when it comes collectively, fairly totally different from a smooth wheat-based dough. Consequently, you need to take care to not over-mix or knead it, as doing so will overwork the gluten and produce gulab jamuns with an unpleasantly exhausting texture.
The Liquid Binder
The components within the dough want some type of liquid to hydrate the gluten and, consequently, assist the combination maintain collectively, and I’ve discovered a mixture of milk and heavy cream produces softer gulab jamun with pleasantly moist interiors. The fats within the milk and cream additionally helps with shaping, as the warmth from the palms of your palms will soften the fats, smoothing out the floor of the dough as you roll it into little balls and making them simpler to mildew. It additionally helps with the ultimate texture of the gulab jamuns, since they’re served heat; the dairy fats will likely be fluid at that temperature, additional avoiding any risk that the interiors will likely be dry and chalky.
Frying Fats
My alternative of fats for a frying medium often is the most controversial of all. Ghee, a sort of clarified butter, is the standard and hottest alternative of cooking fats for frying gulab jamuns. It provides an unmistakable scent of caramel and nuttiness within the dessert, due to the slowly browned milk solids that give ghee its unbelievable taste. You may actually use ghee, for those who like, and for those who do, I discover it’s higher to serve the gulab jamuns heat reasonably than at room temperature, because of the method ghee can solidify on their surfaces, relying on how cool the ambient temperature is.
I selected to not name for ghee on this recipe due to the massive amount you’d want, which might grow to be costly; I exploit grapeseed oil as an alternative. Use your personal judgment with respect to which neutral-flavored oil you select; I like to recommend staying away from canola oil, as some individuals are extra delicate to selecting up a fishy scent in meals which might be fried in it, however that might not be relevant to you. If you wish to fry the gulab jamuns in ghee, Indian grocery shops carry bigger bottles of ghee at a extra inexpensive worth level than those offered at non-specialty grocery shops. (Notice that it doesn’t matter what fats you employ, the cooking temperature will stay the identical.)
The Syrup
As soon as the gulab jamuns are fried, they’re soaked in a heat spice-infused easy syrup. I mix sugar and water in a saucepan, add spices, and warmth the combination to extract the flavour molecules from the spice. My alternative of spices is sort of easy—saffron for its shiny coloration and perfume, inexperienced cardamom for its cool, candy scent, and cloves for his or her heat aroma. Rose water is added on the finish as a result of this can be very unstable and doesn’t want any warmth for its aroma and taste to be extracted, in contrast to the entire spices. I additionally add slightly acid within the type of lemon juice to stop the sugar syrup from crystallizing (1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar can be utilized as an alternative). The acid helps to “invert” among the sugar, which interferes with crystallization and, consequently, the syrup stays a easy liquid even at cooler temperatures.
The syrup is able to use when it begins to kind a smooth, sticky, syrupy thread when a small drop of it’s pressed between two fingers—watch out while you do that, because the syrup is scorching; I discover it a bit safer to do the identical take a look at utilizing two small teaspoons. One other key level to bear in mind is the temperature of the fried gulab jamuns once they’re added to the syrup. They need to be heat, in order that they simply absorb the syrup, however not piping scorching, as that may trigger the sugar within the syrup to burn, which is able to make the gulab jamuns fairly darkish and may result in a bitter-tasting exterior. I like to recommend letting them sit for about 30 seconds on a plate to chill off only a bit earlier than including them to the pot of heat syrup.
Gulab jamuns should soak within the syrup for at the least 4 hours earlier than serving, however they’re even higher in case you have the time to soak them in a single day, which, after the preliminary heat soak, could be completed within the fridge. When it comes time to serve them, heat them up of their syrup, then serve the gulab jamuns with a beneficiant tablespoon or two of the syrup, and a sprinkling of chopped pistachios, almonds, or rose petals on high as garnish. (I desire the feel of candied rose petal jam or gulkhand, which I discover way more nice than the petals; it is obtainable at most Indian grocery shops). Some individuals additionally serve gulab jamuns with a scoop of ice cream, which presents a scrumptious distinction of heat and funky temperatures.
