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Are you a stickler for healthy food sans all-purpose flour, unhealthy fat and too much oil? But still can't give up on your adoration for sweets and traditional mithai, one just like Gulab Jamun? No worries. Here we bring the healthy warm Gulab Jamuns that are crafted with pure love and thoughtfulness for healthy food lovers. It's made with wheat flour, milk powder, non-fat milk, and yoghurt, and very importantly skips the villainous deep frying by baking Gulab Jamuns and soaking them in the honey and rose syrup. Now, are you muttering everything is possible?
It would be an understatement to say that Gulab Jamuns are one of the most popular and extremely relished Indian desserts and mithais. And they have been with us for a couple of centuries. A Persian term, Gulab Jamun means rose water syrup berries or rose berries as in the olden days it was soaked in kewra or rose-essenced water. The origin of Gulab Jamuns is also disputed and is said to have been made accidentally by the personal cook of the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan. Gulab Jamuns are often compared to Arab dessert, Luqmat al qadi, Persian dish Bamieh and Turkish Tulumba. This sweetmeat is a favourite not just in India, but also throughout the subcontinent. So much so that it is the national dessert of Pakistan.
Tracing The Genesis
It is traditionally made at home and in confectionery shops mainly from milk solids, known as khoya obtained from reducing milk to the consistency of a soft dough. Then it is mixed with all-purpose flour, and ghee and kneaded into a dough, deep-fried and soaked in cardamom-flavoured sugar syrup. Modern recipes call for milk powder instead of khoya to reduce cooking time. There are even ready-made Gulab Jamun powdered mixes available in the market to make up for quick and hassle-free Gulab Jamuns, whenever one desires.
The old sweetmeat has spawned numerous variants not only in India but in neighbouring countries too. These include Kala Gulab Jamun, Pantua of Bengal, Katangi of Jabalpur, Gulab Jamun ki Sabzi of Rajasthan, Lal Mohan, of Nepal, and Ledikeni of Bangladesh.
Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking: 25 minutes
Servings: 2
Ingredients:
For the Gulab Jamuns:
• 1 cup milk powder
• ⅓ cup wheat flour
• ¼ cup curd
• Non-fat milk
For the syrup:
• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup rose water
Method:
• In a bowl add milk powder, wheat flour and curd and knead all into a semi-hard dough.
• Make small balls out of it.
• Place on a baking tray and bake at 150 degrees Celsius for 10-12 minutes.
• After it’s baked, keep it aside and let it cool.
• In a pan, add honey, water and rose syrup and boil it until it thickens a bit.
• Switch off the gas.
• Soak the baked jamuns in it for about 10 minutes.
• Take the Gulab Jamuns out of the syrup and serve in a bowl with the same syrup.
Pick these healthy warm Gulab Jamuns as your companion in the long journey of healthy and mindful eating. Dig in the healthier version of Gulab Jamuns expecting newness, dulcet taste and nutrition of curd, wheat flour and honey. And all of it, without feeling guilty anymore.
