"Chef's Diary"

Ingredients:

For jamun balls

* Carnation milk powder- 1 cup

* All purpose flour(maida)- 1/4 cup

* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

* Whole milk just enough to make the dough

For the Sugar Syrup

* Sugar- 1 1/2 cups

* Water- 3 cups

* cardamom pods(crushed)- 3

* rose essence few drops

Oil for frying

Method:

1. Mix milk powder, all purpose flour, baking soda and butter in a bowl. Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-smooth dough. Let it rest for 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile make the sugar syrup with water, sugar, rose essence and cardamom pods. Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.

3.After 20 minutes, divide the dough into 10-15 portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball.Place the balls on a plate. cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.

4. Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium. Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. After about 5 minutes, the balls will rise to the surface. The gulab jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.

5. Transfer the hot syrup into a serving dish. keep warm on stove. Add the fried gulab jamuns into the warm syrup. Leave gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup overnight for best results. They can be served warm or at room temperature.

Note: If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly. The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.