Gulab jamun

Ingredients:

Gulab jamun

• 3/4 tbsp. low-fat dry milk *
• 1/4 cup heaped premium flour + additional as needed
• 1/16 teaspoon of baking soda
• 0.5 cup heavy cream + more if needed
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp ghee + extra for greasing your hands
• 4 cups neutral vegetable oil for deep frying, such as sunflower or safflower

Syrup

• 1.5 cups of sugar
• 0.5 tsp cardamom seeds or 5 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 0.5 tsp saffron
• 1/4 cup light rum or vodka, optional
• 1-2 teaspoons of rose water
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• Toasted almond needles or chopped roasted pistachios, to serve

Preparation:

1. Gulab jamun:
   
   Sift the dry milk, flour, and baking soda together into a large bowl. Add the cream, lemon juice, and melted butter. Mix gently with your hands until a firm, slightly sticky dough forms. Add more cream if the dough is too dry, or more flour if it's too wet. The dough should be smooth. Try not to over-knead it, or the dessert will be dense..
2. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest while you prepare the simple syrup.
3. Syrup:
   
   In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, 1.5 cups water, cardamom seeds, and saffron. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the alcohol, if using, rose water, and lemon juice, bring to a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture becomes a light syrup, 15-20 minutes. If using whole cardamom, remove the pods from the water.
4. Fill a large Dutch oven halfway with vegetable oil, attach a deep-frying thermometer to the side of the pan, and heat over medium heat to 275°F-280°F (it's important to keep the oil within this range; if it's too hot, the balls will be browned on the outside but raw on the inside).
5. Meanwhile, grease your hands with melted butter. Roll the dough into sixteen balls, using 1 tablespoon of melted butter (walnut-sized balls), making sure there are no cracks in the surface. The dough will double in size when fried and rise further when soaked in syrup.
6. Once the oil reaches the desired temperature, carefully add one ball at a time into the hot oil, making sure not to overfill the pan and leaving space between the balls to prevent them from sticking together. Gently stir the balls to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan or to each other.
7. Fry, turning the balls every minute, until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes.
8. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet or plate. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
9. Place the warm gulab jamun in a glass baking dish large enough to hold all the balls loosely together and pour the warm syrup over them.
10. It's best to fry the gulab jamuns 1-2 hours before serving to allow them to soak up the syrup. I like to reheat the jamuns before serving, but they can also be eaten cold or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
11. Sprinkle with nuts before serving.
    
    Note *
    
    Nonfat dry milk can be found online and in some specialty baking stores. You can substitute it with skim milk powder (available at almost any grocery store), but the dough will be slightly drier and less fluffy after frying. Leftover syrup can be used to make saffron lassi.