Navrathri Special - Gulab Jamun

Navrathri is all done and now I cant wait for Diwali. Back home in India, Navrathri is one of the biggest festivals in our family. We still have elaborate pooja both in the morning and evening which the elders take care of while the "kolu" is taken care by us the younger ones in the house. Its been almost 8 years since I went home during navrathri and oh I so miss it - all the fun, festivities and the house-visits that we used to make as young kids, scouting for sundal :-) Anyway, now that we are far away from home, with a busy schedule over the weekdays our navrathri celebrations have been condensed to weekends and am just glad that we had 2 weekends to celebrate this time around. On Saraswathi pooja I made these yummy Gulab Jamun. I was debating whether I should wait until Diwali but my sweet tooth got ahead of me and I decided to make it for Navrathri.

Ingredients:
Jamun -
2 cup mawa/khoya (reduced solidifed milk, available in Indian stores)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp sugar
2 - tbsp milk
Sugar syrup -
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp powdered cardamom
few strands of saffron (optional)

Method:
Mix all the ingredients for the jamun. Use as much milk as necessary to make a soft dough (consistency should be softer than chapathi dough). Set aside and let it rest for 15 min or so.
Meanwhile, mix sugar and water in a large pan and set it on a medium flame.
Allow the mixture to boil for 5 min or until the syrup turns viscous.
Now add cardamom and saffron to the sugar syrup.
Keep the sugar syrup warm by adjusting the flame to lowest possible setting.
Now pinch a part of the dough and roll it into little balls.
Heat oil in a frying pan. When it is hot enough, drop a few balls and let it fry slowly. It may take 3-5 min depending on how hot the oil is.
Once the jamun becomes golden brown, take it out and drain it on a paper towel.
Even as they are warm, transfer them onto the sugar syrup.
Serve the jamuns warm or cold; they taste yum with ice cream.

Note: Be patient while frying the jamun. Use a low flame and fry until it turns golden brown. This will ensure a fully cooked and juicy jamun to enjoy.

This will be my entry to "Sweet series" event hosted by Sireesha of Mom's Recipes.

Enjoy !!