Australian Natural Health Magazine - Nourish

The festival is not only a festival of lights, but a festival of food, where families enjoy delicious vegetarian Indian feasts and share Indian sweets with their friends. 

Join in the festive celebrations with award winning TV chef and cookery writer, Anjum Anand and her traditional Gulab Jamun recipe.

Ingredients

• 200g full fat milk powder
• 65g plain flour
• ⅔ tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp ghee, plus extra to grease your hands
• 100g yoghurt
• 100ml full fat milk, approximately
• vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• finely chopped pistachios, to serve, optional

Syrup

• 350g sugar
• 2 good pinches saffron strands
• ½-1 tsprose water, or to taste

Cooking notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Method
Place the milk powder, flour and baking powder in a large bowl and stir to combine well. Add the yoghurt and most of the milk and use your hands to combine until a moist and slightly sticky dough forms. Add the remaining milk if necessary. Set aside.
To make the syrup, place the sugar, saffron and 650 ml water in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the rose water and set aside.
Pour about 10 cm oil into a wok or wide saucepan and place over low heat.
Divide the dough in half. Working with one half and keeping the other half covered so it doesn’t dry out, grease your palms well with ghee.

Check out the little preview below of Anjum's Australian Spice Stories series below; you can see how popular this sweet treat is among Anjum's family!