Gulkand Gulab Jamuns

Ingredients:

Spiced simple syrup

• 1.5 cups sugar
• 1 + 1/4 cups water
• 4 cardamom pods, crushed
• 2 tsp rose water
• a few strands of saffron

Jamuns

• 2 cups khowa/khoya/milk powder
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup thick coconut cream
• 50/50 ratio of vegetable oil and ghee for frying

Filing

• 1/3 cup gulkand (rose petal jam)

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, add water and sugar to make simple syrup. Heat the pan on medium. Stir until sugars completely dissolves and syrup gently simmers.
2. Cook it until syrup slightly begins to thicken. Keep syrup on the lowest heat setting on the stove so that it remains hot. Stir in cardamom pods, rose water and saffron threads.
3. In a medium bowl, sift milk powder, whole wheat pastry flour and pinch of salt. Add in thick coconut cream and mix everything until combined into a soft dough. You want a dough that is soft and moist. If it’s too dry, add in more coconut cream, but a teaspoon at a time.
4. Meanwhile, heat a heavy bottomed nonstick saucepan on low. Add enough vegetable oil and ghee for deep frying jamuns.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using thin gloves, prepare gulkand by rolling the thick paste into small balls roughly the size of a pea. Make a whole bunch to chill and firm in the freezer.*
6. While oil heats, divide dough into equal portions, roughly the size of an average coin. It might be small, but while deep frying and soaking in simple syrup, the jamuns tend to expand.
7. Roll dough ball between palms. Apply a deep indentation with your thumb to add a frozen piece of gulkand. Gather the sides neatly and make sure to seal the dough so that the filling doesn’t leak out. At this point, you have to work fast in order to avoid melting the gulkand. Apply gentle pressure till the small dough balls are smoothly rounded. Make as many to keep ready for deep frying.
8. Dough balls should appear smooth and without cracks. If it’s too dry, add a little more coconut cream in the dough.
9. Make sure the oil is heating on low. Add a few dough balls at a time to avoid over-crowding.
10. Dough balls would be afloat after a few seconds of frying. Using a strainer, move around the dough balls to lightly brown and evenly cook on all sides.
11. If dough balls browned too quickly, the oil is too hot. Lower the heat and redo the rest of dough balls.
12. Remove jamuns to drain on paper towels for 5 minutes. Then transfer it into hot simple syrup to soak for an hour.
13. Continue frying all dough balls until done. Rotate soaked jamuns with jamuns that are awaiting to be soaked.
14. Serve jamuns with drizzles of simple syrup, garnish with chopped pistachios and edible flowers.

*Note: This step is important to easily stuff jamuns with sticky gooey gulkand by avoiding a huge mess.