Gulab Jamun

Ingredients

• 200g khoya or unsweetened mawa, coarsely grated
• 50g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 3 tbsp whole milk, or as needed
• 400g granulated sugar
• 400ml water
• 4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 1 pinch saffron threads
• 1 tsp rose water
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 800ml ghee or neutral oil, for deep frying

Before you cook

• Grate the khoya on the coarse side of a box grater and let it sit at room temperature for twenty minutes so it softens.
• Sift the flour with the bicarbonate of soda and the ground cardamom.
• Crush the cardamom pods lightly with the flat of a knife.

Steps

1. Put the sugar, water, crushed cardamom pods and saffron in a wide pan and bring it to the boil.
2. Simmer the syrup for six to eight minutes, until it feels slightly sticky between finger and thumb but has not yet formed a thread.
3. Stir in the lemon juice and the rose water, then turn the heat to its lowest setting to keep the syrup warm.
4. Knead the grated khoya on a plate with the heel of your hand for three minutes, until it turns smooth and greasy.
5. Sprinkle over the flour mixture and knead it in gently, adding milk a teaspoon at a time until you have a soft, crack-free dough.
6. Stop kneading as soon as the dough is smooth, since overworking makes the jamun dense.
7. Divide the dough into eighteen pieces and roll each one between your palms into a ball with no seams or cracks.
8. Heat the ghee in a deep pan over a low to medium heat until a scrap of dough dropped in rises slowly to the surface after a few seconds.
9. Slide in six balls at a time and let them float up without touching them for the first thirty seconds.
10. Swirl the ghee gently around the pan so the jamun turn and colour evenly, frying for six to seven minutes until deep golden brown all over.
11. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drop them straight into the warm syrup.
12. Fry and add the remaining two batches the same way, checking that the ghee has not got too hot between them.
13. Leave the jamun to soak in the warm syrup for at least two hours, turning them once, until they have swollen to about half again their size.
14. Serve them warm, two or three per bowl, with a few spoonfuls of syrup.