Gulab Jamuns (with khoa/mawa)

Gulab jamuns made from home made khoa are my mom’s speciality. She makes amazing soft gulab jamuns made from milk solids which is made by boiling the milk for a long time and then, condensing the full fat milk.

Though there are many new versions of preparing gulab jjamuns using milk powder, sweet potato, semolina etc, nothing compares to the taste of these luxurious soft and rich gulab jamuns made from khoa or milk solids.

You can buy readymade khoa/mawa/milk solids from shops or from the frozen section of supermarkets.

Ingredients:

Store bought khoa/mawa – 1/2 kg

Maida/All purpose flour – 2 cups

Melted Ghee – 2 tsp

Milk – 3 tbsp

Soda -Bicarbonate – 1/2 tsp

For Syrup

Sugar – 3 cups

Water – 1 3/4 cups

Measurement for gulab jamuns from home made khoa

Khoa Made from 1 litre milk

Soda bi-carbonate – 1/4 tsp

Melted ghee – 2 tsp

Milk – 1 tbsp

Maida or All purpose flour – 1/2 cup

Preparation:

Sugar Syrup:

In a pan, add 3 cups of sugar and 1 3/4 cups of water and heat it on a medium flame. Keep stirring until the sugar is dissolved and it is sticky. Check the syrup by taking a little in between your thumb and forefingers. When you separate your fingers, the syrup must be just sticky. Do not let it reach a single string consistency.

Take the syrup off the pan and transfer it immediately to another wide vessel and let it cool. Some people like adding cardamom powder and lemon juice but we, at home do not add this.

Frying the Gulab Jamuns

In a bowl, add the mawa and mix it well. Then add the all purpose flour to it and combine it well. Then add the soda-bicarbonate and mix well again. Next, add the ghee and the milk and knead it gently to make a smooth dough. Do not over knead the dough.

Now divide the dough into equal shaped balls. Roll it into smooth crack free balls and keep it on a plate. You should always fry them immediately or the texture may change as soda has been added.

Heat oil in a pan. Drop a small piece of the dough into the hot oil to see if the dough goes down and rises up. If not, the oil is not hot. Wait for a few minutes and drop about 4 to 5 balls at a time and fry to a golden brown colour and take it out. Place them on a plate lined with kitchen tissue. Reduce the flame to minimum and keep flipping the balls to have a uniform brown colour.

The oil should not be too hot as the balls may turn brown but will not get cooked inside. If the oil not hot, a crusty layer will form over the fried jamuns. Make sure you regulate the flame and the heat remains medium low all the time. If it gets too hot, take the pan off the flame and keep it aside and then fry the jamuns.

Add the jamuns to a medium hot syrup or room temperature syrup. Do not add it to a boiling or hot syrup. Let them soak for 5 to 6 hours. Serve them with little syrup in a bowl.

Motichur Ladoos

Motichur ladoo is a traditional Indian sweet prepared during festivals. Prepared with gram flour and sugar syrup, these sweet boondis melt in the mouth and are prepared with a perforated spoon or a fine strainer with small holes. These are then crushed to a coarse powder to get the perfect result.

Traditionally orange food colouring is added to the ladoos but I here, I have refrained from adding it.

Ingredients:

For Boondi

Besan/Chickpeas Flour – 1 cup
Semolina/Rava – 1 tbsp
Baking Soda – 1/4 tsp
Oil/Ghee for Frying

For Sugar Syrup

Sugar – 1 cup
Few Saffron Threads
Yellow/Orange Food Color -2 pinches (optional)

Garnishing

Chopped Pistachios
Few threads of Saffron

Preparation

For Sugar Syrup

Heat a sauce pan with 1 cup sugar, saffron threads and 1/2 cup water (pic 7). Mix well to dissolve the sugar (pic 9). Stir it until you get a one string consistency (take one drop of syrup between finger and thumb and check one thread consistency) (pic 10).

If you are using food color, add it and mix well. Switch off the flame, add cardamom powder and keep aside.

For Boondi

In a bowl, add 1 cup besan/gram flour, rava/semolina and baking soda (pic 1). Mix the ingredients well (pic 2). Then, add 3/4 cup of water and make a batter of pouring consistency. Using a whisk, make sure there are no lumps (pic 3).

In a kadai or pan, heat ghee or oil. When it becomes hot, drop one or two drops of the batter and it should come up steadily. If they dont come up, the oil is not hot enough.

Position a perforated spoon or a small holed sieve above the oil (pic 4). Take a ladle of the besan batter and pour on top of the perforated spoon or the sieve. Slightly shake the spoon or the sieve so that the boondis fall down from the perforattions into the hot oil (pic 5).

Fry the boondis till they become golden. Do not overfy them. Take the boondis out after a minute (pic 6). In case it becomes crisp, the boondis will not be able to absorb the sugar syrup and will not be soft. Use a large slotted spoon to remove the fried boondis. Drain it in a kitchen issue and keep it aside.

If the boondis are small, crush them with your hands. Now, add the fried boondis into the sugar syrup (pic 11). Note that the syrup should be hot while adding the boondis. If it is not hot, you may slightly heat the syrup to make it hot.

Apply some ghee on your palms and shape the motichur ladoos. The mixture will be warm when preparing the ladoos (pic 12). They will become firm on cooling.

Garmish it with pistachois and saffron strands.