Gulab Jamun

Ingredients

• For the Syrup
• 6c water
• 3c sugar
• 2tbsp rosewater
• 1tbsp ground cardamom
• For the Doughnuts
• 3c powdered milk
• 1c all-purpose flour
• 1.5tsp baking powder
• 6tbsp butter, melted
• milk (any type) - just enough to make a soft dough - about 1/4c
• Oil for frying

In a saucepan, add the water and sugar.  Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  When it reaches a boil, turn the heat off and add the rosewater and cardamom.  Set aside.  Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients for the doughnuts.  Add the butter, melted, and then enough skim milk to make a thick dough that you can roll with your hands.  If you add too much milk, you can always correct with a little more flour.  Roll the dough into balls about 3/4" in diameter.  In a saucepan, add some oil and heat to deep fry the dough.  You want it hot enough that the dough takes about 30 seconds to start to get brown.  If you have the oil too hot, the dough will brown (and burn) too quickly and the inside won't cook.  So you kind of want to cook them more slowly.  Make sure to stir them so they cook evenly.  When they're done, briefly drain on paper towels, then add directly to the syrup.  Let them sit in the syrup for at least 2 hours.  We put our syrup in a slow-cooker set to "warm" so they stay warm until we're ready to eat them.

Thoughts: These are awesome, and the slow-cooker worked perfectly.  I will say that the insides of SOME of the jamun were a little... dry?  It seemed like they didn't cook very well if they were too big, and since the dough was dry, you got these little pockets of milk powder sometimes.  It wasn't bad, but in the future I'd consider trying either (a) a slightly wetter dough or (b) smaller sized jamuns.  This recipe is enough to feed an army (we fed about 18 people desert) so scale back as needed.  On the other hand, I think they would keep well in the fridge.  So.  We served with rose flavored ice cream, but you could serve them plain, with whipped cream, or with many other flavors of ice cream.

Disaster Index: 1/10