Gulab Jamun

          I made this yummy Indian dessert to participate in the South vs North Challenge event. I made this Gulab Jamun from scratch, following  Pallavi's Gulab Jamun Recipe . It came out really good.  

 Gulab Jamun: The Persian word Gulab means rose, as rosewater is often used in the syrup. Jamun may refer to the jambul fruit, which is usually of a similar size to pieces of the dessert.

 Ingredients:

to make jamuns:
1 cup         dry milk powder
1.5 tbs       rava/ semolina  
3 tbs          all-purpose flour/ maida
3 tbs          ghee (Clarified / melted butter)
1/4 tsp       baking powder
3 tbs          cream  
to make syrup:
1 cup         water
3/4 cup      sugar
few drops   rose water/ gulab jal 
to garnish:
1 pinch     ground cardamom
1 tbs         chopped almonds
1 tbs         chopped pistachio nuts 
to deep fry:
1 quart vegetable oil  + 1 tbs of ghee for deep frying.

Method:
1. Sift milk powder, rava, flour and baking powder.
2. Add ghee to the dry ingredients, now add the cream and make a soft dough.
3. Roll the dough into a ball with ghee greased palms, cover and let it rest for 20 - 30 mins.
4. Meanwhile, heat the water in a pan, add sugar and cardamom  stir it till the sugar gets dissolved completely, bring it to boil. Remove from heat and add the rose water. 
5. Make small balls out of the dough. Heat oil and ghee in a deep frying pan (med-high), when the oil becomes hot enough (dip a wooden spoon inside the oil, it should get steady bubbles around it), drop 3-5 jamuns in the oil. Reduce the heat to low when the jamuns start to float. Flip it and cook, until they become golden brown. 

6. Take the jamuns out with a slotted spoon, place on a paper towel lined tray and allow to cool.

7. Repeat the process with the remaining jamuns. Drop the jamuns gently into the sugar syrup and soak for some time. Serve the jamuns with syrup and garnish with ground cardamom, chopped almonds and pistachios.