Nani's Gulab Jamuns Recipe

My mom must have made a million Gulab Jamuns (or as Sindhis say 'Gulab Jammus') when I was growing up. It was one of our favoritest desserts, one that evoked feelings of yummy anticipation as well as a lot of worry.

Why worry?

'Cause Mom would make at least 60-70 of those yummy balls and then send half of them away to our cousins' homes.

One time, when I lamented about the disappearance of the treats, she made 30 Gulab Jammus just for me, and then gave me a separate container for them. I stuck that container in my closet and relished those Gulab Jammus as and when I pleased, without any siblings or chacha getting in the way.

Yeah..I was so nuts! We (the siblings and I) were quite possessive about our GJ's, and we snootily turned down GJ's at others homes or the restaurant or the mithai waala deals.

For us, Gulab Jammus had to be either made by mom or our Nani. Even though mom made enough to keep all of us fat and happy, Gulab Jammus that arrived in steel dabbas (containers) made by Nanima (or Bomama as I called her) was quite an exciting event in our home.

Ah..Nanima ne Gulab Jammu bheje hain! (Grandma has sent Gulab Jamuns).

The recipe used by both of them (Mom and Nani) was the same, but it was probably the warm and fuzzy feelings associated with grandmothers cooking that made the Gulab Jammus extra special. Nanima is no more but I can't help but think of her if I eat or make this dessert.

In fact, when I was about 21 and wanted to learn how to make these heirloom dessert, I went to my Nani. The recipe I have in my book is from when I learned it from her.

Sim and Sid are learning to make these a little sooner than I did.

At 6 and 3, they love to help their Nani to shape the GJ's. The pictures are from last week when she made these yummy balls for them!

By Bharti

Ingredients

For the syrup

3 cups sugar
5 cups water
1/4 teaspoon saffron
6-8 cardamom pods slightly crushed
1 teaspoon rose essence

For the Jamuns

2 cups whole milk powder ( Nido brand, usually available here in the Hispanic section)
1/2 cup all purpose unbleached flour (maida)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 heaped tablespoons ghee (approx.)
1-2 small cans of evaporated milk
Kadhai or wok filled with vegetable oil or ghee to fry the Gulab Jamuns

Method

Syrup

Place all the ingredients (except the rose essence) for the syrup in a wide pan. Bring to a boil. Simmer on medium heat for about 15 minutes. The syrup shouldn't be too thick. Turn the heat off and keep covered.

Gulab Jamuns

Turn on the heat for the kadhai and let the oil warm up on medium heat.

Place all the dry ingredients in a big bowl and mix.

Add the ghee and with your fingers mix the milk powder and ghee really well (the way one would do for a shortcrust pastry). The ghee should cut in to the powder and resemble crumbs when done, so add as much as needed.

Next the evaporated milk. This part needs to be done quickly or else the jamuns dry out. Also, add a little more milk than you think you need to make a soft dough, the milk powder absorbs it pretty quickly. You should need about less then 2 of those small cans of evaporated milk. Add the milk and work quickly to make a soft dough.

Shape in to balls using a little ghee on your hands to avoid sticking.

Deep fry on low to medium heat in small batches, turning gently for even brown color on all sides. The deep frying part should take a few minutes on low heat. (Too brown too fast will result in uncooked jamuns on the inside)

When all the jamuns have been deep fried, add the them to the warm syrup. Bring them to a roaring boil, cover and let them cook in the syrup for 2 minutes.