My Mutant Kitchen – Neela and Gulab Jamun (Patreon)

(By Guest Author MoreThanNone)

Namaste, my name is Neela and I thought I'd share a really simple recipe I know for gulab jamun - they're like little fried dough balls that are popular here in India. They're normally served in a bowl of syrup but these ones will be dry so you can pop them right into your mouth... or mouths for some of you! You'll still need to make a basic syrup and have a hint of rose water or cardamon powder to hand to give it some traditional aromatic flavour.

As for the dough balls, they're usually made with milk solids but this version just uses bread and regular milk, great for those of us on a budget or not enough time on our hands. When rolling the dough into balls, make sure there are no cracks for the cooking oil to seep in to but this shouldn't take too much time if you have a few extra hands... or similar appendages. And when frying them, make sure the oil is not too hot or boiling otherwise they'll stay raw on the inside and become hard on the outside - we want them soft and juicy!

Gulab jamun is often garnished with dried nuts or fruits and you can also have it warm with ice cream. It comes in all sorts of varieties so look for other recipes and eat well!

Ingredients:

Syrup:

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of water

Rose water or cardamon powder

Dough balls:

6 slices of bread

4 tablespoons of milk

Cooking oil for frying

Coconut powder or powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Add the sugar and water to a pan, stir and bring to a boil

2. Simmer for 4 minutes or until it turns sticky

3. Stir in a 3 drops of rose water or 1/2 teaspoon of cardamon powder

4. Set the syrup aside, cover and keep hot

5. Cut the edges off the bread slices, then chop the slices into smaller pieces

6. Mash the bread and milk in a separate bowl until it becomes a smooth, soft dough

7. Roll the dough into little balls, ensuring there are no cracks

8. Heat cooking oil in another pan until moderately hot and fry the dough balls until golden brown, stirring throughout

9. Drain thoroughly and place the dough balls on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil

10. Add the dough balls into the hot syrup and boil for 1 minute

11. Set the pan aside, cover and leave for at least one hour (or overnight if you want them really syrupy!)

12. Drain the dough balls and roll them completely in coconut powder or powdered sugar

13. Leave to dry and enjoy!