Cooking Adventures

I love Indian food!  Joshua and I love Indian food.  For valentines we went to Bombay House in Provo, one of my favorite Indian food restaurants.  I had Lamb Saag, mulligatawny soup, and garlic naan - so good!  But eating out can be so expensive.  We tried to saved a few dollars by walking 2 blocks down to Bollywood Market to buy dessert of Gulab Jamun.  Really they make the Gulab Jamun at Bombay House where some of the husbands work, and sell them at Bollywood Market where some of the wives work.  It costs less to buy them at the market.

Tonight, I made Chicken Vindaloo, which was delicious.  In addition, I made for the first time my own Gulab Jamun.  Gulab Jamun is a popular dessert in countries of the Indian Subcontinent such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. It is made of a dough then deep fried.  It is then put into in a sugar syrup flavored with cardamom seeds and rosewater, kewra or saffron.  We like ours in rosewater syrup.  Gulab jamun is common at weddings.  Mine turned out so well!  It was very good.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup Carnation Milk Powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tablespoons butter -melted
Milk just enough to make the dough

Oil for frying

For the Sugar Syrup  (I did not use this syrup recipe because I used some I had left over from when we bought Gulab Jamuns at the market.)
2 cups Sugar
1 cup water

How to make gulab jamun:

• Make the dough by combining the milk powder, Bisquick, butter. Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-hard dough. Divide the dough into 18-20 portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.
• Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium. Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. Instead, gently shake the pan to keep the balls from browning on just one side. After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.
• If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.
• The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.

Sugar Syrup

• The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm. To make the hot sugar syrup add mix the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water. Add 4-5 cardamom pods, slightly crushed and a few strands of "Kesar". Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.
• Transfer this hot syrup into a serving dish. Keep warm on stove. Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. Leave gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup overnight for best results. They can be served warm or at room temperature.