Gulab Jamun

This is a recipe I've meant to make for years now. The main thing holding me back was that I wanted to be "authentic", meaning I wanted to buy a whole storeful of milk, then boil it down into powder. You know what they call that? Powdered milk! Yes, I realize I'm insane at times. Once I finally got over that, I decided now was the time to do this.

For those of you who've never had them, the base is a dough made powdered milk based dough rolled into balls then fried in oil. After being fried, you let them sit in a sugar syrup that's been flavored with spices. Sound good? It is. Don't let the powdered milk part scare you off, it's really very mellow and really helps soak up that good syrup.

This first time I ever had gulab jamuns (Glob Jah-mun) was from a can that I bought in an international foods store. Why do I remember this? Well, for one they tasted unlike anything I'd had before and the texture was incredibly strange. More than that, I poured sugar syrup all down my front while in the car. Luckily I had some raggedy pajamas in the backseat (no idea why) that I could change into. Unluckily, I had an hours sticky drive back home.

Barring that drive, all my other experiences have been good. So when the inspiration to make them struck me down, I went with it. Realizing that starting from scratch was insane, I chose to use powdered milk for the basis. I had all the ingredients on hand including the whole cardamom pods and saffron. Is that strange for a college student?

Once you've made your "milk dough", you have to roll them in little balls and fry them. No big deal. I just happen to forget that dough expands when it cooks. Yeah, roll these smaller than you think you'll want them. Unless you want to be attacked by the Giant Gulab! These had a much better texture than the packaged ones. More doughy and less like styrofoam. Floated in some of the lightly spiced syrup, these were awesome. They actually reheat in the microwaves like champs too.

Why don't you try something different for dessert tonight? Of course, if you do, let me know how it goes.