Gulab Jamun. As I sweep away to the world of imagination, where the brown balls soaked in sugar syrup goes inside my mouth, and as I bite into this and the sweet muslin like feeling slowly melts in my tongue, I almost realise the state of nirvana and along with it realise that the sinful salivary glands are already in action😉.
This is the magic of this magical dessert from India. Although India is a land of diversity, and each state and each culture has plethora of delicacies of their own to offer, yet, if there is any survey being conducted for favourite sweets among Indians, I have a strong belief that Gulab Jamuns will be among the top five sweets loved by Indians. Such is our love for Gulab Jamun and such is our weakness for Gulab Jamun, that no purchase from sweet shops can be concluded without atleast 250 gm pack of Gulab Jamun. Everyone has to agree that atleast few times in their life they have selected the dish to order, just because the complementary sweet was Gulab Jamun. Yes, for the proud Indians, Gulab Jamuns is our proud sweet and everyone has a sweet memory attached, when they tried the ready mix gulab jamun for the first time in late 90’s or early 2000s. (Like I excitedly made the gulab jamun when I was in school, and each jamun pieces grew so big, that it was looking like a muskmelon which had turned brown).
I still make the gulab jamuns with ready mix gulab jamun powder, and I am also happy with the correct jamun size that I have gradually acquired. But my stubborn mind is not ready to settle down and is getting curious on making gulab jamun from scratch. Thus, the quest has started and somehow I have encountered the concept of Paneer Gulab Jamun, which has got my attention instantly, as paneer is a readily available ingredient at home. Thus, I embark on my journey of creating Gulab Jamun from scratch with Paneer Gulab Jamun.
Although, this is my first attempt and hence may not be the perfect one. But I still thought of sharing the experience as well as the basic tips and nuances that I have learnt, which might get diluted as I perfect myself in making these Paneer Gulab Jamuns. Though I do not follow recipes as it is from others, and prefer to create my own after multiple attempts and experiments, however, I found a link for Paneer Gulab Jamuns recipe in the internet which might be helpful for you.
https://www.archanaskitchen.com/paneer-gulab-jamuns-a-delicious-diwali-sweet
Click here and check more dessert recipes.
Recipe: Paneer Gulab Jamun
Sugar Syrup Preparation Time: 15 minutes (approx.) Paneer Dough Preparation Time: 14 minutes (approx.) Gulab Jamun Frying Time: 22 minutes Equipment Used: A sauce pan, a bowl, a wok and a turner Yield: 12 gulab jamuns (quantities will differ according to the size of gulab jamuns)
Ingredients:
- 4 cups water
- 2.5 cups sugar
- 8 green cardamoms crushed
- 200 gram paneer
- Around 1 cup maida or all-purpose flour
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup refined oil
Method:
- Add water and sugar in a saucepan and put the pan on fire
- Cook the water and sugar on full flame till bubble appears and then lower the flame and cook the sugar syrup, till you get the desired consistency. The sugar syrup should not be too thick, else the fried Gulab Jamun balls cannot soak the sugar syrup
- Switch off the flame once the syrup reaches the desired consistency
- Crush green cardamoms and sprinkle on the syrup
- Keep the sugar syrup covered, so that the syrup takes the aroma of cardamoms
- Take out the paneer few hours in advance if the paneer is refrigerated
- Crumble the paneer properly, so that no big chunks are left
- Add milk and mash the paneer with the help of milk
- Little by little add all-purpose flour to the mashed paneer till you knead a proper but soft dough
- Make small balls (approximately the size of a lemon) out of the dough
- Heat a pan and heat oil once the pan is hot
- Fry the balls(3-4 at a time) on low to medium flame till the balls turn to dark golden colour
- Soak the balls in warm sugar syrup
Add water and sugar in a saucepan.
Cook the water and sugar on full flame till bubble appears and then lower the flame and cook the sugar syrup, till you get the desired consistency.
Switch off the flame once the syrup reaches the desired consistency.
Crush green cardamoms and sprinkle on the syrup.
Keep the sugar syrup covered for a while.
Crumble the paneer properly, so that no big chunks are left.
Add milk and mash the paneer with the help of milk.
Little by little add all-purpose flour to the mashed paneer till you knead a proper but soft dough.
Make small balls out of the dough.
Heat oil in a pan.
Fry the balls on low to medium flame.
Soak the balls in warm sugar syrup.
Tips:
- Ensure that the sugar syrup is warm while soaking the Gulab Jamun. The jamun pieces will break if the syrup is too hot and if the syrup is cold the gulab jamun pieces wont soak the sugar syrup properly
- Unlike the gulab jamuns made with khoya which soak sugar syrup immediately, gulab jamuns made with paneer take time to soak and they get better with time. Hence, don’t have the gulab jamun immediately after soaking them in sugar syrup. Also, while serving, pour extra sugar syrup on the jamun balls. This way the jamuns will taste much better
- It is recommended to heat the gulab jamuns again just before serving
- The dish calls for proportionately more sugar syrup as there might be loss of liquid due to multiple times heating.
- Be flexible with the proportion of all-purpose flour or maida. You need all-purpose flour just to bind the dough. Also, adjust the amount of flour as per the wetness and softness of paneer. You know the dough is ready, when the dough does not stick to your palm
- Store the left-over oil used for frying separately. You can use the oil later
- As a part of my endeavour to create dishes with everyday ingredients, I have used very basic ingredients easily available in our kitchen pantries. However, you can enhance the dish by adding few ingredients like, rose water, saffron, pistachios etc.
- I must admit that my gulab jamuns turned a bit hard, as I missed few precautions. I have carefully documented these precautions in my ‘Method’ and ‘Tips’ section. My Gulab Jamuns have turned soft a day after, as I started having them after heating them. However, you can get some instant solution in the internet if your Gulab Jamuns also turn hard
