Gulab Jamun

 "This is a traditional Indian dessert. Spongy milky balls soaked in cardemom scented syrup. Delicious with fresh cream, Kulfi, ice cream etc. To make it even more fancy, sprinkle silver-leaf on top of each serving.Gulab Jamuns can be prepared from scratch or we can buy ready mix packets
from market eg,Gits,chitle bandhus...etc...or we can buy khoya from market .Here we are preparing gulab jamuns from milk powder."

Ingredients:

    1 cup milk powder
    1/4 cup All Purpose flour (plain flour, maida)
    3  tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter
    1/4 cup room temperature whole milk
        Pinch of baking soda
    1 3/4 cup sugar
    1 1/2 cup water
    1  tablespoon cardamom Powder
    1  tablespoon sliced almonds and pistachio
       Oil for deep-frying

Syrup:

    1.  In a large pan, add water,sugar and bring it to a boil.
    2. Stir the syrup until the sugar is dissolved.
    3. Let the syrup boil  till it forms a one thread consistency then remove it from the heat.
    4. Add cardamom powder
    5. Set the syrup aside.

Method:
  In a bowl, mix milk powder, flour and baking soda.Add the butter and mix well.Now add milk to make soft dough. The dough should be slightlyl sticky. Let the dough sit for a few minutes. Milk powder will absorb the extra milk. If the dough is dry, add more milk, as the dough should be soft.Knead the dough. Grease your hands with butter before working with the dough.Divide the dough into about 20 equal portions and roll them into round balls. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat.

 The frying pan should have at least 1 ½ inch of oil. To test if the oil is the right temperature, place a  small piece of dough into the oil; it should take a minute to rise. If dough rises faster, oil is too hot; if dough just sits without rising, oil is not hot enough.Place the gulab Jamuns in the frying pan. Note: remember gulab jamuns will expand in double the volume, so give them enough space.It should take about 7 minutes to fry the gulab jamuns. While frying keep rolling the gulab jamuns around so they are evenly browned. Fry until the gulab jamuns become dark brown.Remove the gulab jamuns from oil and place on tissue paper to absorb extra oil.Let the gulab jamuns cool off for a few minutes and place in the hot syrup.Before serving decorate gulab jamun with sliced almond and pistachio.The gulab jamuns should sit in the hot syrup for at least 20 minutes prior to serving. Gulab jamuns can be kept at room temperature for about a week and up to one month when refrigerated. Gulab jamuns can be frozen for months.

Tips:
   1.If you are using khoya or ready mix packets you have to skip the step 1 and 2 of above method
   1.If the gulab jamuns are fried on high heat, they will become hard and not fully cooked.
   2.Too much baking soda will cause the gulab jamuns to get too soft or they will break apart when frying.
   3.Don’t place the gulab jamuns in the syrup immediately after frying. This will cause the gulab jamuns to loose their shape.