MAWA/ KHOYA GULABJAMUN

 Gulab Jamun is the classic Indian dessert that everyone loves. One the best ever celebrated Indian Sweet / Festive Sweet of all time and we don't need any reasons to eat these soft, melt-in-mouth Gulab Jamun's ! They are a perfect sweet dish for Indian festive celebrations like Diwali, Eid, or Raksha Bandhan. Khoya is mainly used in Indian cuisines to make variety of sweets. I have also shared a lot of different dessert/festive sweet recipes on my blog.  In India, weddings or other parties for festivals will most always have gulab jamun as one of the desserts. 

 I grew up eating the most soft and fluffy gulab jams that my mom made. I was the kid in the house who is not that fond of sweets but had a hard time keeping my hands off these sweet balls of goodness. Every time I opened the refrigerator, I would pop one in my mouth. Now my daughters and hubby following this tradition. Gulab Jamun is the classic Indian dessert that everyone loves. If you have tried this recipe you will definitely stop store brought one's, you will surely see a difference when you trying making them yourself ! Trust me, you will never go back to buying those ready-to-make mixes again. But making Gulab Jamuns at home requires a lot of time and patience. The homemade ones are just divine. I normally keep the leftover sugar syrup and consume it for making any other sweets /desserts in which I need sugar.  Some people prefer to eat Jamun WARM or HOT and some like it cold. My family likes serving HOT Jamun with sugar syrup with cold Vanilla Ice Cream too. This is a choice of personal prefernce. But I promise the big smile these sweets bring on the faces of loved ones and the pleasure of sharing a bowl full of homemade goodness with friends is exquisite. So here's my update of my post of Khoya / Mawa/khoa Jamun's that I had shared long time back for fasting with arrowroot powder. Learn to make the best gulab jamun's with khoya along with all the tips and tricks to get them melt-in-the-mouth soft. Be sure to watch the video on my channel!

INGREDIENTS :

For Gulab jamun -

250 gm Mawa/ Khoya / खवा 

60 gm Paneer / पनीर 

4-5 tablespoon Maida / मैदा 

1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

2-3 teaspoon Milk/ Water

Oil for frying

For Sugar syrup -

4 Cups Sugar / चिनी 

3 Cups Water

4-5 drops Rose Escence/ 1 tablespoon Rose Water

1/4 teaspoon Cardamom Powder/ वीलायची पुड

Few Saffron strands / केसर 

1/2 Lemon Juice 

METHOD :

Make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature.

For Making the dough -

STEP 1 - In a parat/ big thali, take crumbled/ grated mawa. Cream the mawa using the base of your palm until smooth and creamy in texture. It will take around 10-15 minutes or depending upon the quality and quantity of mawa. ( see notes ) After creaming keep the mawa aside.

STEP 2 - Now take crumbled/ grated paneer in the parat and cream it as well in the same way. Cream it until smooth in texture.

STEP 3 - Mix both mawa and paneer.

And then start adding maida in small batches and make a smooth dough. ( see notes )

STEP 4 - Add baking powder and incorporate well in the dough. Once it has nicely mixed and dough like texture, cover it with a dry cloth and keep aside for 10 minutes. 

For Making Chashni/ Sugar Syrup -

STEP 1 - In a big wok, add sugar and water and put it on the flame.

STEP 2 - Keep stirring until sugar is dissolved completely.

STEP 3 - Add cardamom powder and saffron strands and mix well.

STEP 4 - Further bring it to a boil and boil for 3-4 minutes. We do not need any string consistency, it should be a simple syrup. 

STEP 5 - Add lemon juice and rose essence, mix and switch off the flame.

Keep the sugar syrup aside. ( see notes )

Making Gulabjamun -

STEP 1 - After making sugar syrup start making gulabjamun. 

STEP 2 - Pinch a small equal lemon size dough ball. ( see notes )

STEP 3 - Rub it gently in between your palms and shape them perfect roundels without any cracks.

Make all the balls with the rest of the dough, cover the dough balls with a moist cloth to avoid drying. Keep aside.

STEP 4 - Set a wide pan/ kadai with oil for frying gulabjamun. Make sure that the oil is not very hot. If its too hot then the gulabjamun get cooked too quickly from outside but from inside they may be uncooked.

STEP 5 - Check the oil by putting a small dough ball in it. If it starts to float on the surface in few seconds and the bubbles appear on the sides, then it's perfect to go.

STEP 6 - Put 4-5 pieces of gulabjamun at one time. Don't overcrowd the kadai.

STEP 7 - Keep swirling the oil using a small spatula/spoon. ( see notes )

STEP 8 - Fry gulabjamuns maintaining the temperature to low until they turn nice golden brown in colour and cooked evenly.

STEP 9 - Remove them using a slotted spoon.

STEP 10 - Immediately drop them in warm sugar syrup. It should not be very hot otherwise gulabjamuns will be more soft and lose their shape.

STEP 11 - Let them rest in the sugar syrup for around 2-3 hours so that they can absorb the syrup nicely.

Your gulabjamuns are now ready to serve.

Serve chilled or warm and enjoy this gulab jamun as a dessert after a meal or along with your meal.

More Serving Ideas - 

👉Drain the syrup, cut the balls into half. Arrange them on a serving platter. Top with rabdi and garnish with sliced nuts.

👉Instead of rabdi, you can use whipped cream.

👉Drain the syrup, roll the balls into desiccated coconut or nuts powder then arrange on the platter.

👉 Cut the gulabjamuns in small pieces and layer them with whipping cream and dryfruits to make Gulabjamuns Truffle.

 For later, I usually use the microwave to reheat the gulab jamuns and sugar syrup. They get perfectly soft and spongy.  Just before serving, transfer them to a wide microwave safe bowl, heat the sweet in a microwave for few seconds on high power.

Watch the video - 

NOTES : * Always use all the ingredients at room temperature.

* Creaming mawa is a time consuming process but this step will surely make perfect gulabjamun.

* Cream mawa in small batches for better results.

* If the mawa is too hard use 1-2 teaspoon milk/water while creaming it.

* Do not add maida in one go. The quantity of maida will differ depending upon the moisture in paneer and mawa.

* The dough has to be smooth, non-sticky, and 100% lump-free. That is why a kneading of 10 – 15 minutes using the palm’s pressure is required to form a perfect dough. There aren’t any shortcuts to this process.

* Do not cook the sryup for longer we don't need any string consistency.

* The sugar syrup should not be too thick or too watery.

* Remember, the sugar syrup becomes thicker once it cools down. So adjust the consistency initially accordingly.

* Let the temperature of sugar syrup drop on its own. 

* Shape gulabjamun in small size. Because if they are bigger in size, one may be little uncooked whereas smaller ones may burn quickly.

* If the dough gets dry while shaping, then use little milk to wet your hands and use that knead the dough.

* If needed apply ghee on your palms while shaping them. There should be no cracks or else gulabjamuns will break.

* Swirling helps to maintain the temperature of oil and cook the gulabjamun evenly from all the sides.

* Be careful while swirling the hot oil, make sure not to spil the oil over your hands.

* While swirling do not touch the gulabjamuns as they may break.

* Always fry gulabjamuns on low flame. It might appear that gulabjamuns turn brown outside but inside they might be still raw and uncooked. So cook them on low flame.

* Make sure to keep the sryup warm when we add gulabjamun or jamuns won't absorb the sryup so well.

* Just before serving, heat the sweet in a microwave for few seconds.

* Cardamom powder, saffron  and rose essence/ rose water are added to enhance the flavor of the syrup and give it a rich taste. It has nothing to do with the consistency or texture of the syrup and are totally optional.

* At room temperature - it stays fresh for 1-2 days depending on the climate/weather where you live.

* In the refrigerator - it stays good for a week or two when stored in an airtight container.