This was going to be my second entry for the Next Foodbuzz Blog Star but alas, I didn’t advance to the next round.  On the bright side I had a tasty treat that I ate over the course of 3 days and I learned to make a new dish that I had absolutely no idea how to make.  Losing never tasted so sweet.

I chose Gulab Jamun because I’ve always been intrigued by these tiny sweet balls.  As a part of Indian as well as Guyanese culture these are usually served at  festivities such as a wedding, or religious holidays.    These are delectable sweets made almost entirely of milk and allowed to soak in a syrup flavored with cardamom and rose water.

I ran into a few issues with the original recipe, the measurements were way off!  I did a bit of experimenting and they turned out great!!  Bon Appetit.

Gulab Jamun

adapted from Greatest Indian Ever

1 cup milk powder

3 1/2 tbsp all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tbsp butter, melted

1 egg

1 tbsp cream

vegetable oil

Place the milk powder, flour and baking powder in a bowl and mix well.  In a separate bowl, whisk egg and melted butter.  Add egg/butter and cream to dry ingredients and stir to form a dough.   Form dough into 12 small smooth balls.

Heat enough oil to deep fry the balls.  Reduce heat to a medium and cook balls in two batches until golden brown.  Remove from pan and rest on plate.  Add Balls to syrup and allow to sit in syrup for at least 10 minutes before serving.

To make Syrup:

Heat 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water; cook for 7-10 mins. Remove from heat and add 2 crushed cardamon pods and 1 tablespoon of rose water.

You can also make a vanilla syrup by substituting the cardamon and rose water with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla extract.