Gulab Jamun

I always make Gulab Jamuns using the Gits Gulab Jamun mix and initially even though they would taste good, their appearance wasn't. They didn't have that nice shiny surface as was shown on the box;but with some help from serendipity and my mom I found the secrets to the perfect gulab jamun. Being a sweet connoisseur, it's very important to me that if I make sweets they turn out well in taste and appearance - in that order. I think when it comes to food, it's more important for it to taste good than look good. The ideal situation, of course, is when it's both. In a perfect world, a gulab jamun should be soft and should've thoroughly absorbed the sugar syrup so that not even a iota of it is dry. So here goes my tips:

• You needn't stick to the quantity of milk mentioned on the Gits box. Use as much is required to make a nice soft dough. So start sparingly with milk and keep adding little by little. Keep in mind that the gulab jamun flour gets moist very soon so be careful.
• Knead the dough well to ensure minimum cracks on the dough balls.
• This tip is there on the box too but I want to stress on it - oil your palms before you make the dough balls and oil as often as you deem necessary.
• When you make the dough ball, knead it in your palm with your fingers to give it a nice texture.
• Here's the most important tip: like all frying expeditions, the temperature of the oil is the key. The temperature should be between medium-low and medium. If it gets very hot at medium reduce it to medium-low; but as you start frying more and more the temperatue will go below optimal so go back to medium. I noticed that when the temperature was lower than optimal, even the smallest surface cracks got bigger and bigger as they took longer to fry. We all know what happens when the temperature is higher than optimal :). If it's the right temperature: it fries quickly getting a nice brown color, doesn't burn and has a smooth surface.
• The sugar syrup should be quite watery. This ensures that the gulab jamuns absorb well. The more they absorb the more they swell and the softer they are.

That's probably all. So if you've had problems like I did then next time you're going to get perfect gulab jamuns!

P.S. This time when I made them they looked so good that I wanted to post their photo but laziness took the better of me.