Gulab Jamun (The Fiji Way)

Gulab Jamun is a lovely Indian sweet, especially made during Indian festivals, ceremonies and events. They are quick and easy to do at home, with the right recipe. The main ingredients are condensed milk, butter, nutmeg, plain flour and sugar. The dough is made out of condensed milk, butter, flour and nutmeg. This is shaped into 4 cm long cylinders, deep-fried and then placed in a hot syrup before draining on a tray. You can vary the sweetness by dipping it in the syrup for a shorter period of time so that it does not absorb as much sugar syrup.

Children in Fiji grow up with this sweet. It is often found in sweet carts that sell a variety of Indian sweets and snacks in towns, especially, near bus stations. A packet of assorted sweets for an after school snack on the way home usually contains gulab jamun amongst other favourites such as barfi, jalebi and peda.

Gulab Jamun can be iteasy if you have the right recipe. Take note of the following to ensure you get the best possible results:

1. Sugar syrup - boil the sugar in water until it reaches a slight sticky consisitency. The stickiness should not go to 1 thread consistency as it will start to crystallize out on the gulab jamuns and leave a white crystalline residue. A lighter syrup also means that it will get absorbed thoroughly in the sweet.

2. Butter - I prefer to use 40 grams of butter. Having too much butter may lead to cracked and mushy gulab jamuns.

3. Dough - when you make the dough, add the flour gradually and keep mixing. Stop once the dough just comes together and stops being overly sticky. Ensure that the dough is not too stiff as this leads to hard jamuns that do not absorb the sugar syrup as readily.

4. Deep fry on low heat. It is best to test with the first few and adjust the heat accordingly.

So here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 tin condensed milk (approximately 400g)

40g butter - softened

1 nutmeg- grated/ 1 tsp powdered nutmeg

3 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Vegetable oil for deep frying (I use rice bran oil)

Sugar syrup

2 cups of brown sugar

1 cup of water

Procedure:

Sugar Syrup

In a suacepan, boil together 2 cups of sugar with 1 cup of water. Once it starts to boil, test the stickiness of the syrup between your fingers. Stop cooking once the syrup starts to just become sticky. This can take up to 5 - 8 minutes after coming to boil, depending on your pan and heat.

Once the syrup has come slightly sticky, turn off the heat and set aside.

Gulab Jamun Dough

1. In a medium bowl, add the softened butter, 1 can condensed milk and finely grate over a nutmeg. Alternatively, you can use 1 teaspoon of nutmeg powder. Mix this well with a fork.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together 3 cups of plain flour and 1 tsp on baking powder.

3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture in step 1 and mix well. Stop adding the four mixture when a soft (but not overly sticky) dough forms. You will be left with approximately 2 tablespoons of the flour mixture. Knead well.

4. Take a small amount of dough and shape into 1 cm width x 4cm long cylinders.

5. Deep fry in oil, over a low flame. If the flame is too hot, it will not cook well inside and tends to brown rapidly.

6. As each batch cooks, remove from oil onto a plate and then transfer to the sugar syrup for up to 2 minutes.

7. Remove from sugar syrup carefully and drain in a single layer on a baking paper-lined tray.

8. Enjoy!