Gulaab Jamoon - It's Deepavali! Where's Gulaab Jamoon?

Gulaab Jamoon - It's Deepavali !

Haa !! It's Deepavali. And we get to eat gulaab jamoons. It has been like this from my child hood, more than fireworks, Deepavali means gulaab jamoons. 

For more sweets recipes click the link - Sweets

Some people make traditional sweets and additionally make jamoons too. But places like my house.. it is only gulaab jamoons. 

My mom buys the ready made gulab jamoon mixes in shops.. I remember it was the Orkay brand jamoon mixes which was the only brand available then in 80s. 

I still remember, we will be waiting for my dad to buy two packs of the Orkay jamoon mix. And we won't be able to sleep the night before the day when my mom has planned to make them. We used to crib why only 2 packs and why not more. We enjoyed sitting with my mom and helping her roll the jamoon balls. 

My mom was not an ardent cook because of her health issues. And we never felt that my mom never makes Deepavali goodies like others as we had one of the loveliest neighbour (Geetha Amma) who used to share all her delicacies with us. The only sweet we used to share with her was the gulaab jamoons.

I always use the unsweetened khoya and maida/all purpose flour to make gulaab jamoons and makkan pedas (recipe coming soon). 

People, if you still buy the jamoon mixes, please try it with the khoya and I bet you won't go back to the ready made mixes. 

Let's go to the recipe..

Ingredients:

• Unsweetened khoya - 200 grams
• Maida/All purpoe flour - 1 and 1/2 cup
• Cooking soda/baking soda - 3 big pinches
• Curd - 1 tablespoon
• Ghee - 1 tablespoon

For the syrup:

• Sugar - 500 grams
• Water - 1 inch above the sugar level
• Rose essence - few drops

Procedure:

• Add water to the sugar. Keep it on stove and get ready with the syrup to the sticky consistency. Add the half spoon of ghee, few drops of rose essence, cover it and keep aside.
• Also keep the oil in the frying-pan on stove or frying.
• Take the unsweetened khoya in room temperature in a wide mouthed vessel. 

• Initially, add 1 cup of maida.
• Add the cooking/baking soda, curd, and ghee. 
• Now knead altogether. It will be little sticky right now.
• You will definitely need more maida flour. So keep adding that extra 1/2 cup maida, one spoon at a time.
• And keep kneading till you get a soft non-sticky dough as shown in the picture. 
• Once you get the non-sticky dough, take a very small bit and make a ball. Drop this in the hot oil and see how it fries.
• If it opens up or if you see any obvious crack, it means the flour is not enough hence you need to add more maida flour. 
• Then add another spoon of flour and knead again. Try again with a tiny ball of dough in hot oil. 
• Repeat this few times till you see the dough frying in perfect shape.
• To reach this consistency of the dough, you must have added at least that extra half cup of flour fully by now. (that extra 1/2 cup which I mentioned in the ingredient list). This extra 1/2 cup of maida might vary in amount depending on the brand of khoya we use too. So keep an sharp eye on the small ball test-frying. That will help you catch the right consistency of dough. There won't be a big problem in the addition of flour. If you add less flour, then, the balls will have a crack or open up. Then add more flour. If you add excess flour, then, the jamoons will be firmer. That is all. 
• Believe me, you will know when it is right and so you will definitely get the right dough.

• Once you got the perfect dough, reduce the heat under the oil to low and come to the dough to roll the jamoons. 
• Pinch a small portion of the dough and make balls.
• Keep the oil in low flame and drop the balls gently.
• Do not disturb the jamoons immediately. Let it fry for few seconds. Then with spoon, stir the oil without touching the jamoons.

• After sometime, the jamoons will float. Then you can stir with the spatula.
• Wait till the jamoons are cooked and reach the beautiful colour. We prefer dark brown colour so I make the jamoons little darker like kaala jamoons.
• Fish the jamoons out of the oil and drop it in the hot syrup. 
• Now let it soak for at least 1 hour.

Tips:

• You can keep one nut or one nut and raisin inside the jamoons while rolling them. This makes jamoons more interesting.

Here, the delicious rose flavoured gulaab jamoons are ready to make your festivals special and complete.

Happy cooking !!