Gulab Jamun is easily one of the most popular Indian snacks. Dripping with chashni, this soft milk and chenna-based dessert could instantly satisfy your sweet cravings. It’s actually quite easy to prepare this treat, yet a lot of us still dread making it at home.
Despite following the recipe keenly and doing everything right, often times the balls or dumplings break while frying. Why do they crumble? Is it the ingredients? Is it the temperature? What exactly goes wrong?
From Michelin-starred chef Dayashankar Sharma and Chef Sumit Sethi of Crowne Plaza, here are some of the tips to help prevent your gulab jamun from crumbling.
1. Frying temperature
What you need to be careful about when frying is the temperature of ghee. Start low to medium at first. As your gulab jamuns start to take on some colours, increase the temperature gradually. Frying your dough in high flame is a big no-no.2. Shaping
Whether round, oval, or cylindrical, you need to make sure you shape the dough well. What you need to make sure while shaping is to leave no cracks or crevices anywhere. No crack is too small. Even the tiniest cracks can escalate while frying. This will make your gulab jamuns break into pieces. Pro tip: apply a little bit of melted ghee on your palms to make the perfect shape.3. The Right Dough
This might be the single most important thing you must keep in mind. Your dough should be a nice binding dough. Not too sticky, not too dry. Otherwise, it may break while frying.When kneading the dough, you need to make sure there are lumps in it. Don’t knead it for too long, either. As soon as your dough is smooth and binding, start shaping gulab jamuns. Pro tip: to prevent disintegrating during frying, use a pinch of arrowroot, cornflour or even baking powder.
Go ahead and try these tips to make this sweetmeat. But if you're still unconvinced and think it’s way easier to grab some from the nearest Indian food restaurant, order our spongy gulab jamun at The Yarra Indian Restaurant
Source: Food.NDTV
