Wish you all a very happy Deepavali/Diwali.
Gulab Jamun must be one of the most loved sweets in India. These days it is very easy to make them at home using ready made Gulab Jamun mixes, but few years ago, that was not the case. I used to make them from milk. It was a long process as making of khova or khoya takes a lot of time, but the hard work brings very good results.Â
To make khova at home , heat milk in a thick bottomed pan on a medium-low flame. Keep mixing it once in a while making sure the milk does not get sticked to the bottom of the pan. When the milk has reduced to 1/4th quantity, you need to keep mixing it continuously to avoid sticking. When the milk has almost lost all liquid and got dry, it is called khova .Â
Khova is readily available in markets these days. It can be used to make these jamuns.
Ingredients for Jamuns: 1 cup khova 1/4 cup maida (all purpose flour) 1/4 tea spn baking soda Ghee for deep frying.
For syrup: 2 cups sugar 3 cups water 1/4 tea spn cardamom powder 1 tea spn rose water(optional)
Method: Mix khova , maida and soda very well to make a smooth dough. Make small balls from them (they increase in volume after frying and soaking the syrup, so do not make them too big). In a separate vessel, heat sugar and water. When the syrup starts boiling, switch off heat. Add cardamom powder and rose water(if using). Deep fry the jamuns in ghee and add them to hot syrup. I add them to syrup when both jamuns and syrup are hot. This helps jamun to soak the syrup easily. Allow them to soak the syrup for few hours and then serve.
Makes about 14 jamuns
PS: The quality of jamuns largely depends on the khova used. I never used store bought khova , I always make it at home. Try one batch, if the jamuns break as soon as they are dropped in ghee, instead of wasting the remaining dough, you can make pedas from them.
Pakoras are one of the most popular snacks in India. They are called as bajo -singular or baje -plural in Konkani. They are also called as bajji .
We usually serve them along with  meal. They are integral part of any Konkani festival/function meal. Cauliflower and capsicum baje are very popular, but people make them out of other vegetables like raw banana, potato, spinach, bread fruit, onion etc. Recently we got few requests for this recipe. I used to make them a lot when my children were small. There are many ways of making these. I am posting the recipe followed by Konkanis here.
Ingredients: 2 cups vegetables like cauliflower, capsicum, banana, potato, spinach, bread fruit etc A pinch asafoetida 1 cup besan (gram flour) 1/2 tea spn chilli powder Salt Oil
Method: Make a batter from besan , asafoetida, chilli powder, salt. The batter should not be too thick or too thin. When the vegetable is dipped in batter, it should hold a coating of batter. Heat oil for deep frying. Dip the vegetable in the batter and deep fry.
Preparation time : 20mins
Some variations – – A 1/2 tea spn ajwain can be added to the batter. It gives a nice taste. – Some people add a pinch of soda to give a thick coating to them. – If the chillies/capsicums used are very spicy, soak them in tamarind water for 10mins and discard the water. – To give crispiness to the bajjis , add 1 tea spn rice flour to the batter. – Sprinkle a little bit of c haat masala on top while serving to give a nice taste.
– Some less known bajjis are made from Cabbage – Chop cabbage. Then add some onion pieces(optional) and the batter ingredients. Here the batter is not made separately, but besan , asafoetida, salt, chilli powder is added to the pieces. Mixed and small balls of the mixture is deep fried. Ginger – Chop finely. Then make them like cabbage, but make very small balls (about 1/2 tea spn of the mixture). Ginger gives a very spicy sharp taste, so do not make them too big. Drumstick, bhindi (okra), brinjal (eggplant), mushroom, paneer – These are made same as the cauliflower bajji . Onion – made like cabbage, or like the special onion bajjis .
