Gulabjamun Recipe from scratch using Milk powder

Easily one of Indias most loved desserts gulabjamuns can be a little tricky to make ....either they are right and so good or they are just a mess!

There isnt anything in between...

Well I have been looking for the perfect Gulabjamuns-from-scratch-recipe for many years!

I have tried pure milk powder Gulabjamuns, 1:1 Milk powder Flour , all khoya, part kohya....the list is endless....

Some versions were good while some recipes yielded gulabjamuns as hard as stone.....

Hence after a lot of trial and error  I have combined several recipes and tips  and I can proudly announce this recipe is the ONE!

Its the perfect texture ....I even put it through my famed Gulabjamun test! The test is basically cutting a Gulabjamun into half ,it should be moist and danedaar right to its very centre, it should not be hard and it should not be falling apart either!

So here is the recipe, with a little care and attention to detail anyone can make  perfect gulabjamuns at home...


1 cup Nestle Everyday Dairy Whitener (Milk Powder)
1/2 cup Plain Flour (Maida)
1/4 tsp n a lil pinch more of baking soda
1-2 tablespoons thick curd
1.5 tsp ghee
1 tablespoon Sooji ( Semolina)

Sugar Syrup
1.5 cups sugar
3 cups water
A splash of rose water
2-3 bruised green cardamom pods

Start by mixing the milk powder, flour,Semolina and baking soda with your fingers in a large bowl.
Once all the dry ingredients are well combined add the ghee and use your fingers to mix everything well again.

Now is the tricky bit, start adding the curd into the dry mix but start by adding only a teaspoon of curd at a time.
Milk powder tends to get all gooey very quickly so watch out . You dont want to add more curd than necessary. After each teaspoon addition of curd mix very well and knead. You should need only about 1-1.5 tablespoons of curd to have a homogeneous mixture.

Dont over work the dough it does not need to be all smooth and perfect you just need to bring everything together , look at the picture.

 Once the dough is ready leave it aside for 5-10 minutes.


Get started with the sugar syrup. Add the sugar to the water along with crushed
gren cardamom seeds and some rose water. Boil the syrup for about 15-20 minutes.

Now start making little tiny rounds of your dough first take a little dough and flatten it between your palms, then make it into a small ball this ensures minimum cracks on the surface of the dough. Little because on frying they will increase in size and swell up once again when you soak them in the sugar syrup.

Heat enough oil to be able to deep fry the dough balls. Heat oil and then reduce the heat for 5 minutes. Now gently add about 7 gulabjamuns to fry. You dont want to add too many.

You need to fry the dough balls evenly and on a low flame. To ensure even cooking make sure you keep swirling them around in the oil. Once they acquire a nice brown even color add them to the hot sugar syrup.

Let them soak for a minimum of 10-15 minutes before you serve them!

I hope you try this recipe soon......:)

JW Marriott Pune - Secret Recipes by Chef Ajmal

One of my most favorite things to do is looking at recipes from a cook book....I think I enjoy perusing recipes more than actual cooking! (ha ha)

I love a good cookbook ....it holds between its covers the possibility of so many spectacular meals.....

I have over the years managed to gather quite a good collection....some inherited ...I really treasure those...with yellowing pages and comments scribbled along side recipes.....thank you Mom and Nanijee :))

Some bought from second hand book stores , some new cook books with glossy pages and endless possibilities , some picked up from flea markets around the world often in poor condition....

So today I want to tell you about the latest addition to my cook book collection....its my current favorite....

I love nothing better than to make myself a cup of my Spice and Herb Chai....and look at the lovely pictures of this book....

I got lucky and got invited to meet Chef Ajmal at the JW Marriott Pune for a special chance to watch him cook 3 recipes from his newly launched book....

Mango Chiffon Cake

Southern Indian fried chicken

Summer Salad

It was such a lovely afternoon I got to meet some great and talented people....hopefully I will get to know them better as the days roll by....

Chef Ajmal is an exceptional Chef with many years of experience in the Kitchen.....he was so much fun to interact with and was kind enough to share some lovely tips with us.....after which he personalized my copy of the book

This book is a special edition with some of the best recipes served at the JW Marriott Pune ....its beautifully compiled with lovely pictures ....

If you would like to own a copy for yourself or gift it to someone you love the book retails exclusively at the Pune Baking Company ,JW Marriott , Senapati Bapat Road, Pune and retails at INR 1500.

The Club Mahabaleshwar - Food and Kitchen Tour

I hope you have read my previous post about The Club , Mahabaleshwar....If you haven't as yet here it is.

The reason I chose to write a separate post on just the food is because the food is so spectacular I just could not put it all together in one post!

The quaint old brass bell is rung to indicate the start of a meal time....yes there are fixed meal times....and the same old brass bell is rung 10 minutes prior to the close of meal time!

Meals at the club are a formal affair ....members are expected to dress appropriately....no shorts and rubbish thank you very much!

And best of all no cell phones allowed in the dining area! Thank God ....dosen't it just ruin a meal ?

When people on your table keep checking their phones or worse still when people on the adjacent tables talk loudly over their phones....at least there are a few places in the world that still  respect the environment in which a meal is to be enjoyed and go that extra mile to create such an environment!

The tables are laid out perfectly ....every guest is assigned their own special table and bearer for the entire duration of their stay. Each meal is accompanied with a printed menu on the table!

Breakfast

Of course the menu for the day is disclosed 24 hours in advance on the notice board outside the dining hall ....

Akuri - Parsi style scrambled eggs at breakfast

I dont know about you but food is pretty much the thing I look forward to on any holiday I take....so its nice when they tell you what they will serve you for your next meal....that way you can dream about the next meal while dozing off on the hammock :))

Chicken roasted to perfection

Food both vegetarian and Non Vegetarian is exceptional ....meals are almost always a good mix of Indian and Continental.  Lunch and dinner start with a soup and soup sticks....and the main course is a delight!

Spring Onion Soup

The food is modern yet old world ....dining at The Club is such a delight to all your senses....here are some more pictures of what we ate during out last stay there....

Sauteed Vegetables and Patrani Macchi

Vegetable Lasagna

The desserts are spectacular ...I specially love the steamed date pudding served with cream...

Steamed date pudding with cream

Liveried bearers , in white,serve you promptly in the dining room and it is a pleasure to be welcomed over breakfast,lunch and dinner .....

Banana Split

And now onto the Kitchen tour...well what can I say....

Never before have I seen staff that has so much pride in the kitchen and establishment they work in....

I took an exclusive guided tour of the kitchen and the kitchen staff was so happy and welcoming and they told me "Madam you will not find a better and bigger kitchen than ours in all of Mahabaleshwar...well thats true....there isnt any......

The kitchen is airy , sunny , beautiful and all white.....its so spacious and old wordly....

The vegetarian and non-vegetarian areas are separate....

Its such a lovely positive happy place to be in.....so much better than any 5 star kitchen I have seen with all its steel and sharp edges....

I hope you enjoyed your tour of The Club Mahabaleshwar as much as I enjoyed writing about it....

The Club Mahabaleshwar

One hundred and thirty three years ago 6 British Army Officers met in Frere Hall and decided to apply to the Collector in Satara for permission to have an Army Officer's Club in Mahabaleshwar. 

They proposed to convert the old Army Sanitarium Blocks into the Club's Chambers and convert the Frere Hall into a Club House. Permission was granted and this  makes Mahabaleshwar Club one of the 30 oldest surviving Clubs of India, after the departure of the British.

The Club, Mahabaleshwar a complex of charming colonial style structures built of exposed red brick with arched windows and sloping roofs is one of the last surviving bastions of Mahabaleshwar’s heritage and history. 

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Its handsome red stone buildings, colourful flowerbeds, old trees and quaint memorabilia .....such as the large bell near the dining room which is still used to this day to indicate the start and end of every meal at The club's dining hall evoke memories of a more genteel past. 

For over 130 years, the Club has been a home away from home for its many members.

The Club offers its Members gentle and gracious blend of contemporary comforts and old–world hospitality, a seamless meld of tradition and modernity. 

The charm of the Club is not merely in its buildings and gardens, splendid though these are. It is also in its exceptionally friendly staff.

They know members and their families by name and, during their stay, attend to their needs with courtesy and care.

The lovingly cared for gardens, flower beds and foliage make it a pleasure to relax in the generous shade of the old trees or stretch out on a hammock or garden chair.

 

The food is excellent...watch this space for a detailed post on the food and an exclusive behind the scenes  kitchen tour at The Club , Mahabaleshwar.

Mahabaleshwar

With temperatures soaring all through the month of April all I wanted to do was escape the heat and drudgery of city life....

I dreamt of the quiet meandering leafy paths in the hills, the cool breeze , the clear starry skies ........the quiet of the night with the comforting sounds of the chirping crickets .I dreamt of lying in a hammock under a thicket of greens with a good book for company....

And last weekend we finally managed to pack our bags and head to Mahabaleshwar ....a charming hill town just 2 hours away from home.

After making the mandatory stop at Panchgani (which is enroute to Mahabaleshwar) for Strawberries and cream at Hill Top Ice cream we headed on for our much needed break.....

Mahabaleshwar is everything a hill town ought to be with a lake for boating , a bustling market street, spectacular views , a famous temple , a gorgeous church , a quaint old bakery ,sloping narrow lanes covered in thickets of green.....so much character and history....beautiful old architecture.....old bungalows from the time of the British Raj.

And ofcourse like every hill town in India ....Mahabaleshwar also boasts of some fantastic fresh produce and food....

Wild Jungle honey

 Its famous for Strawberry and Mulberry farms....

Its the best place after Gujarat to buy peanuts and roasted chana in India.....and you get some 

fantastic flavored roasted chana in the Mahabaleshwar Market.

Flavored roasted channa

Also the freshest and sweetest baby carrots ,super cute cherry tomatoes and sweet Jamuns. Jamuns are sold everywhere because 50% of the tress in the area are Jamun trees....which also means a lot of monkeys which are an integral part of any Hill town holiday experience in India....

Elsie's Bakery I love stopping here for a little bite....some really nice old world treats here.....it reminds me of all the picnics from school and college so I always stop for a little treat here...

Its the center for fruit preservation and a great place to pick up jams and concentrated fruit squashes and syrups....

Makes for a great "foodie" get away!

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