Gulab Jamun

[karadekoolaid]

Here's the recipe then. I tried it - yummy - but haven't made it:

Mrs Chandiramani's Gulab Jamun
(For the Jamun)
8 tbsps powdered milk
2 tbsps all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsps unsalted butter
Natural yoghurt
(For the syrup)
2 cups white sugar
2 cups water

Mix the first four ingredients together, then gradually mix in the yoghurt until you reach the point of ( and I'll quote Mrs. C's actual words) " a dough not very hard nor soft". I understand her perfectly! Form into little pancakes ( about 2- 2.5 inches across, 1/4 inch thick) and fry gently until browned.

For the syrup, boil together the sugar and water until it thickens. Pour over the jamun. ( NOTE from me: I've had this in restaurants flavoured with (a) rosewater (b) green cardamom seeds.)

This should make about 10.

There you are then. I suppose I shall now have to make Gulab Jamun over the weekend so I can ensure the recipe is TNT!

 

[skilletlicker]

I've never been ashamed to display my ignorance.

1. These are pancake like things?
2. Are they normally a breakfast, dessert, or something else?

Thanks in advance for your patience with my lack of knowledge.

 

[scott123]

Skilletlicker, these are a dessert. Think very dense, cakey, well browned doughnut holes served warm with a sweet syrup.

Clive, it really isn't practical for the home cook, but I'm a big fan of khoya (milk reduced to a semi-solid) based jamuns. If I were making them myself, I might veer more towards reducing milk as much as possible without spending too much time on it and using some well mashed paneer. For me, paneer is critical to great jamuns.

And, yes, I've never had a gulab jamon that didn't have a syrup flavored with cardamom. A jamon without cardamom would be, imo, a little like a chocolate chip cookie without chocolate chips.

She also doesn't specify what type of fat to use for frying. Ideally, you'd want to use ghee. If not ghee, then maybe peanut oil or a healthy form of shortening such as palm oil. Coconut oil might also work.

P.S. I just re-read the recipe. Little pancakes?! That's complete and utter jamun sacrilege if you ask me Gulab jamuns have to be balls. I've taken license in the past with meatballs (meat pancakes fry a little easier and meat cubes can be baked up meatloaf style and diced quite easily), but when it comes to jamuns... those babies have to be round. I'm putting my foot down

 

[skilletlicker]

Thanks Scott.

 

[Shaheen]

I'd suggest you buy the gulab jamun mix you get at any Indian store. When I was in London, Gits brand was avaiable. Its much simpler and tastes better.

They are definitely small round balls.

Here is a picture

Notice the cardamoms lying around. You can put in as much of the syrup as you like.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Thanks, Scott and Shaheen - temporary brain block there last night - don't know what I was thinking!

 

[lulu]

No pre made mixes that I've come across in Milano ttyhough, although we have found a good Indiand restaurant in the city centre!

Clive these look good. I will try them for a pudding next time I make a curry, and yes, I will add some cardomon. Thank you so much for posting them.

 

[buckytom]

ok, now we're jamun! (we're jamun, we're jamun)
and i hope that you like jamun too!

thanks clive. copying, pasting. i've had gulab jamun here: Desserts

but they had cheese in them. i wonder if their gulab jamun is the same or similar dough as your recipe, just wrapped around cheese cubes before frying?
in any case, it's in my "recipes to try someday soon" file.

 

[scott123]

Buckytom, the 'cheese' in gulab jamuns is well mashed paneer, which is incorporated right into the dough. Mashed paneer is very similar to commercial ricotta- the process for making them is almost identical.

 

[buckytom]

thanks scott.
i think i'm getting rasmalai confused with galub jamun. the balls that i remember definitely had a cheesey center. i'm still intrigued by this recipe, though. looks like an indian version of zeppoles.

have you ever been to one of the raja palace restaurants in new jersey? one is on 46 in lodi, the other is in montclair, i think.

i'd be interseted to hear your review of the place, if you've been.
we love their tandoori chicken, and the rogan josh and korma. btw, is it kormo, or korma?

 

[scott123]

Buckytom, rasmalai are pretty much all cheese, inside and out. Because they are deep fried, jamuns usually have a lighter, airier exterior and a slightly dense center. I'm thinking you had the jamuns. If they were white/looked like formed cottage cheese, they were rasmalai, if they were golden brown, they were jamuns.

Although I've probably been to more than 100 Indian restaurants in New Jersey, Manhattan and London, I've never eaten in Lodi. I think the closest restaurant to Lodi that I've been to is Jyoti in Wayne (rt. 46). Jyoti, btw, has one of the best Chicken Tikka Masalas anywhere.

When you first mentioned Raja Palace, I looked it up on the map. Lodi would be a bit of trek for me. I was thinking that if I were going to travel that far, I'd probably go to Edison instead (Edison has some amazing places that I'm dying to try), but... just now I took another look at the website and I have to admit that I'm intrigued. VERY intrigued. Have they been open long? It looks like they serve alcohol. Is that correct? Is that a TV I see in the corner?

The wed/thur dinner buffet with '25 dishes' for 10.95 looks amazing. Have you been? I'm sure most of the dishes are sides/condiments, but still, that sounds like quite a spread.

If you haven't been to the buffet, you have to go. Indian restaurant food is all about the buffet. And, if you do go (or already have been) I want a report on the number of meat w/ gravy dishes they have. It's pretty standard to serve one chicken w/ gravy dish and one lamb w/ gravy dish (along with the standard tandoori chicken w/out gravy). If they have more than that, I'm so there.

 

[buckytom]

scott, they do serve alcohol. i like to order beers of the particular ethcnicity of the food i'm eating, so i've become a fan of kingfisher and taj mahal beer at raja palace.

they've been open for a few years now, and are just finished renevating the front section of the restaurant which includes a seating area and a small bar. it's not a very big place, and not all that fancy, but the food is very good. they have opened a second restaurant in montclair, called natraj palace, if that's any closer to you.

i haven't been to the buffet, but i do remember seeing that they had 2 or three meat and gravy dishes, a veggie dish, the tandoori foods, and an appetizer dish, rice, and raita with papadum. i was getting takeout of the same things and the waiter had mentioned that it would have been much cheaper to stay and have the buffet. oh well.

if you look at the site for natraj restaurant, they flash up a couple of pictures of the buffet.

thanks for the tip on jyoti. next time we're out on 46 and looking for some food, i'll give it a try. there's another little place in saddle brook called bhoj that we've been wanting to go. i'll post results if we ever do make it there.

oops, soory to hijack the thread. getting back: i'm pretty sure i've had both gulab jamun and rasmalai, come to think of it, lol.

 

[Yakuta]

Hi Buckytom, I wanted to add a little clarification to the difference between gulab jamuns and rasgolla or rasmalai

Traditional gulab jamuns are made with khoya (which is also known as mawa). To make khoya you have to cook whole milk low and slow and eventually it will turn dry and hard. It's too much work to make it from scratch so there are many many substitutes available. One is to make it using ricotta cheese - You cook ricotta with butter until the water evaporates. Then you add some dry milk powder to it and viola you have khoya. You traditionally mix khoya with a little flour and cardamom powder and some ghee and make little balls out of them and fry them and soak them to get your jamuns.

I like to use this alternate recipe which I have perfected after hit or misses for gulab jamun (a lot of recipes need to be perfected because otherwise the jamuns break open when you fry them) that never fails.

4 cups of milk powder (Any kind)
1/4 tsp of cardamom powder
2 eggs (beaten)
2 tbsp of flour
1 tbsp of semolina
1.5 tsp of baking powder
2 tbsp of unsalted butter
little milk to bind the dough

Make a dough out of these ingredients. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes. Make small dough balls and fry in ghee or oil. I like to pierce the balls carefully with a toothpick and then drop them in a sugar syrup that is seasoned with saffron and cardamom. You can sprinkle some sliced almonds and pistachios on them before serving. We normally like to serve this warm.


Rasgolla or Rasmalai on the other hand is made with paneer. You bring whole milk to a rolling boil and shut the stove. Add 1/4 cup of white vinegar to it and let it sit until the milk curdles. Seperate the curds out from the liquid in a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth and let it get dry for a few hours. Next mix the curds or paneer with a little bit of confectionars sugar to make a smooth pliable dough. Make small dough balls. First cook them in simmering water (without anything added to it and make sure the water is simmering as in egg poaching and not boiling otherwise they will disintegrate). Remove with a slotted spoon and add them to a nice medium thick syrup if you are making rasgolla or add them to a thick sweetened milk seasoned with cardamom, saffron and nuts for rasmalai. These are normally served chilled.

 

[buckytom]

thanks very much yakuta. copied and pasted as well.