Gulab Jamun - easy as Apple Pie!

I’ve forwarded several easy recipes to most of you over the years. Here is the first of them – thought I’d begin on a sweet note – Gulab Jamun. This has been one all-time favorite, no matter which part of India we hail from. It seems everyone wants to know the easiest route to Gulab Jamuns and Biryani.

We’ve all eaten variations of the recipe as well – the stock light-brown melt-in-the-mouth version from the neighborhood sweet shop in India, the long dark danedar-khoa version from Basha’s in Triplicane (Madras), the 1 inch-long dense milky type packed in Amul tins, and the firm brown grainy variety from Haldirams and Ghasitarams. My husband would love it if I could conjure up Basha’s Gulab Jamuns and Dum-ka-Roat upon request. Having been a lifelong devotee of Basha’s myself, I also regret that I can’t.

This Gulab Jamun recipe, however, doesn’t require too much effort, and somehow produces a jamun that contains notes of all the above varieties. We are quite happy with it. I usually make these Jamuns every 6 months or so, as a sort of emotional therapy-food hug. For instance, 2 weeks ago, I was forced to run away to Arizona for my MBA’s capstone course, and so I made some 70 Gulab Jamuns to keep my boys company, among other things.

No more ado. Here’s how you prep:

First, make the sheera (sugar syrup in this case, not the Kerala sweetmeat). In a thick bottomed vessel (or copper-bottomed steel vessel, as I did), bring to a boil – 500 grams sugar and 500 ml water – stirring occasionally. Add ¼ teaspoon powdered elaichi (cardamom), and simmer, stirring till the syrup reaches a one-string consistency. Strain and set aside to cool.

Guilty as charged. I didn't grind the elaichis :P

If you like, add one drop rose essence (this is available in the baking aisles of most grocery stores in the U.S.A. If not, check out an Indian grocery). I usually skip the rose flavor and like my Jamuns plain. It’s really up to you…

Then, get a hold of –

1.     2 cups khoa (or mawa, I think they call it. Anyways, you know what I mean – milk that has been boiled and  reduced to a solid).

2.     2 cups maida (or ‘Markin ka aatta’ as my grandmother called it. ‘American aatta’ or refined flour). Just use all-purpose flour. That’ll do.

3.     A few tablespoons milk to bind it all together.

4.     2 tablespoons sheera or sugar syrup (to sweeten the dough slightly).

Now, to make the Jamun dough. Finely grate the khoa into a large bowl. Add the flour, the sheera, and the milk, and knead lightly till you end up with a soft dough. Note: the dough should NOT be glutinous (elastic, like a rubber band), or crumbly (like streusel). Rather, it should be soft and malleable, and should hold when rolled into a small sphere, like shortbread dough.

Some folks add a pinch of baking soda to the flour before kneading, but I’m not really particular. The soda is supposed to help the Jamuns fluff up a bit. Again, I’ve found this works only under certain conditions – such as the temperature in one’s kitchen, humidity, the amount of oil used to fry the Jamuns, how long the Jamuns have been sitting around, etc. Again, it’s up to you.

So, let the dough rest while you go about doing your other chores – for, let’s say, an hour. Then, come back and, greasing your palms with ghee, roll the Jamuns into nickel-sized balls.

The ghee helps seal cracks..



Here they all sit, waiting for their moment of truth.

DO NOT freeze the uncooked Jamuns, or store them in the fridge. If you have no choice but to do so, thaw them COMPLETELY, till they reach room temperature (65 F). Frying the Jamuns cold will give them frills and cracks.  

This recipe should yield between 40-50 Jamuns J.

To put it all together:

Pour ghee into a medium-sized (10 inch diameter) non-stick pan till it is 1 inch deep. Heat on a medium-low flame till the ghee is hot enough to fry the Jamuns. If you’d like to check, drop a pinch of the Jamun dough and watch if it rises to the surface, bubbling and golden brown. The ghee should be deep enough for the Jamuns to float. This ensures even cooking and browning, and a smooth contour. If not, your Jamuns might end up with chins and noses, as mine did (see pics!).  

When the ghee is ready, you can drop in 10 Jamuns at a time. Move them around till they are brown and done – and drop them into the waiting sheera. Watch that you don’t dip your spoon into the sheera or you’ll end up with oil splatters.

Once you’ve fried all the Jamuns, wait for half an hour till they soak up the sheera and swell to the size of quarters. Enjoy!

I ate the fifth Jamun, in case you're wondering...;)

The Eternal Question: Arranged or Love Marriage?

Question from an Indian guy living in the US:

I’m 30, South-Indian male. I like this Hispanic-American girl. We’re good friends and I suspect both of us wanted to take our relationship a notch higher, but I held back, fearing she wouldn’t be a perfect Indian daughter-in-law for my old-fashioned parents. I still think about her. Should I have an arranged marriage?

Akka's reply:

Dear B,

I know as Indians, we typically try to take decisions that will make everybody happy, but the truth is – you’re not throwing a dinner or a party here. You’re thinking about a life-changing decision that will largely impact your happiness, sense of fulfillment, contentment, etc, in the future…for, hopefully, a lifetime.

How sure are you that only a traditional Indian girl will work in this equation? I guess you'll have to ask yourself if culture and tradition matter all that much to you.

If you really liked this Hispanic girl and are confident your friendship can grow into romance and love…don’t you think a Hispanic daughter-in-law would be just as respectful and loving to your parents as much an Indian girl would? My point is, when you really love someone, religion, race, even culture or language does not matter that much. One would be willing to compromise because your relationship is built on friendship and trust, and there is NO WAY either of you would want to shake something that is too good to lose.

How certain can you be that a traditional Indian girl will be respectful or loving towards your parents? Not all of them are. I know many desi women who are constantly dishing the dirt about their in-laws while acting very sweet around them. I feel quite sorry for the parents-in-law, especially if they are simple folk. And guess what, many of these women really don’t need all that much to trigger off a round of politics. Be nice to them and they’ll still bitch about you, just because to them, you’re from the ‘enemy’ camp.

All this makes me wonder exactly what foundations their arranged marriages are built on…A yucky mix of duty, convention, superficiality, politics, appearances, not to mention religion…many of these women can be self-righteous pains…do you really want to spend a lifetime with that sort of girl? Or the girl who takes a jump into the unknown with you, simply because you both share a beautiful friendship?

In my twenties, I sincerely believed culture, religion, convention, traditions, expectations, and all that BS mattered because – to be honest – it was part of my brainwashing as a protected Indian Muslim ‘convent-educated’ schoolgirl (however radical I might’ve been…not very much, it is clear now…but of course, as the eldest child, I always wanted to please…it’s a habit).

Today, in my thirties, I believe love and friendship in a marriage can bridge most cultural/religious/language gaps. If the friendship is strong, then one doesn’t need to seek the externally familiar because you have already found it in one another. Love for one another’s families will naturally follow. I think this is all the more true today, because of our globalized world…all of us are starting to get more educated and comfortable with other cultures, and are starting to realize how much more we have in common than not.

And who cares about the perfect daughter-in-law anyway? There’s no such thing as the perfect person. There are only constructs. Find your own perfect person, B. If she’s the Hispanic girl, or if she is Indian, then that’s who it will be. Only you and she can decide.