← Nouns Cooking · Indian

Ingredients

• 300 g Sugar
• 350 ml Water
• 4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp rose water
• 1 pinch Saffron (optional)
• 100 g Full-fat milk powder
• 40 g plain flour
• ⅛ tsp Bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tbsp ghee or soft butter
• 1 tbsp Plain yogurt
• 4 tbsp milk, plus a little more if needed
• 750 ml oil or ghee, for deep-frying
• 1 tbsp Pistachios, chopped

Method

1. Make the syrup first: simmer the sugar, water and cardamom in a wide pan for 5–6 min, until slightly sticky but still thin. Take off the heat and stir in the rose water and saffron. Keep it warm.
2. Mix the milk powder, flour and baking soda in a bowl. Rub in the ghee with your fingertips, then add the yogurt and milk a spoonful at a time and gently bring it together into a soft, slightly sticky dough. Don’t knead it; overworked dough makes hard jamuns.
3. Cover and rest the dough for 5 min. With greased palms, roll it into 16 smooth, crack-free balls about the size of a large marble; they double in size as they cook.
4. Heat the oil in a deep pan to 150°C (300°F): a pinch of dough should rise slowly with small bubbles, not sizzle fiercely. Fry the balls in batches on low heat for 6–8 min, gently swirling the oil rather than prodding them, until evenly deep golden brown.
5. Lift them out with a slotted spoon, drain for a few seconds and drop straight into the warm (not boiling) syrup.
6. Leave to soak for at least 1 hour, until they are soft, plump and soaked through. Serve warm or at room temperature, scattered with pistachios.

Tips

• If the oil is too hot, the outsides brown before the centres cook, leaving them raw and hard inside; cook low and slow.
• Contains dairy, wheat and nuts (pistachio garnish).

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Swasthi's Recipes BBC Good Food Cook With Manali