Bhavna
Gulab jamun is a dessert often eaten at festivals, birthdays or major celebrations such as marriages, the Muslim celebrations of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, and the Hindu festival of Diwali (the Indian festival of light). There are various types of gulab jamun and every variety has a distinct taste and appearance.
Since Gulab Jamun is very popular sweet, we always tend to look for ways to prepare it easily or with available ingredients. So I happen to know about making Gulab Jamun from Bread and couldn’t stop myself to try it.
Now, in order to get close taste to traditional Jamuns I recommend to use good butter bread and fat milk for right Gulab Jamun texture. Instead of cream or fat milk, condensed milk can be used to make this Gulab Jamun.
To me personally, these Gulab Jamuns taste more like a doughnut! But when you don’t have mawa on hand and if you feel like eating this sweet, this recipe is the best to satisfy your crave.
As per Wiki, Gulab jamun (also spelled gulaab jamun) is a milk-solid-based South Asian sweet, particularly popular in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal (where it is known as lalmon), Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is also common in Mauritius and the Caribbean countries of Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica. It is made mainly from milk solids, traditionally from freshly curdled milk. It is often garnished with dried nuts like almonds to enhance flavor.
In India, milk solids are prepared by heating milk over a low flame for a long time until most of the water content has evaporated. These milk solids, known as khoya in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, are kneaded into a dough, sometimes with a pinch of flour, and then shaped into small balls and deep-fried at a low temperature of about 148 °C. The balls are then soaked in a light sugary syrup flavored with green cardamom and rose water, kewra or saffron. Gulab jamun is available commercially, at South Asian restaurants or pre-prepared either in tins or as kits to be prepared at home.
Bread Gulab Jamun
Ingredients
For the Jamuns:
- Bread - 4 slices
- Milk - 1/3 cup
For the sugar syrup
- Sugar -1/2 cup
- Water -1 cup
- Cardamom - 2 crushed
- Rose essence - 1/4 tsp
Instructions
Making of Syrup:
- Boil sugar and water on low flame. Let the sugar dissolve first. Then keep the flame on medium heat, add cardamom powder and boil the sugar syrup until it becomes slightly sticky. If you touch the sugar syrup between you thumb and index finger, it should be sticky. Basically, single thread syrup. Always keep the sugar syrup ready before frying the gulab jamuns. Add rose essence to the sugar syrup if preferred once it cools a little.
Making of Jamuns:
- Cut the brown crust of the bread and discard it. Dip both sides of the bread in milk, then squeeze out the excess milk. Repeat for all the bread slices.
- Put the squeezed out bread in a blender and blend it just for a second. Alternatively you can also knead it to a soft dough.
- Divide the dough into equal parts and make smooth balls from the bread dough without applying much pressure. The gulab jamuns will turn hard, if you apply too much pressure.
- Heat oil in a kadai and fry the gulab jamuns on low flame until they turn brown. Keep stirring for even browning. If you keep the flame on high, the gulab jamuns will turn brown faster but the inside will remain uncooked. So fry the gulab jamuns on very low flame.
- Drop the fried gulab jamuns into the warm sugar syrup (ensure that the sugar syrup is warm and not hot or cold)
- Let the gulab jamuns remain soaked in the sugar syrup for 1-2 hours. Delicious bread gulab jamuns are ready. It can be served warm or chilled. It can also be served topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
