Gulab Jamun

2 cups sugar
3 3/4 cups water
4-5 drops orange blossom water

1 cup dry/powdered milk (plus a bit more)
2 tablespoons self-rising flour
2 teaspoons fine semolina
2 tablespoons ghee
4 tablespoons milk
Canola oil

To make the syrup, put the sugar and water in a large saucepan.  Stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar.  Increase the heat and boil for 5 minutes or so, to make a syrup.  Stir in the orange blossom water and remove from heat.

To make the gulab jamun, mix the dry ingredients - powdered milk, flour, and semolina - in a bowl.  Add the ghee and smoosh between fingers until the mixture is well-combined.  Stir in the milk, then add more dry milk as necessary to make the dough cohesive and not too sticky to shape (a bit like slightly sticky Play-Dough).  Roll small amounts of dough into balls a little less than an inch across.

Fill a pan with about an inch and a half of oil.  Heat the oil for a few minutes, only until warm but not hot.  Put the balls into the oil.  They will sit on the bottom of the pan for awhile - stir them gently to keep them from sticking and burning on one side.  Eventually, they will float to the top - turn them until they are nicely browned all over.  Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the syrup.  When all the balls are in the syrup, bring the syrup to a boil and them remove from heat.


From A Little Taste of India by Priya Wickramasinghe and Carol Selva Rajah, with some changes