Gulab Jamun & Rasmalai Mix

Gulab jamun are small balls of milk dough fried slowly until deep brown, then soaked in cardamom and rose syrup. Rasmalai are soft, flattened cheese discs poached and served cold in thickened milk with saffron and pistachio. Both traditionally need khoya or fresh chhena, and these mixes replace that work with a powder you knead with milk or water. They sit within our dessert mixes.

A gulab jamun mix makes a batch for a party or a dozen for the weekend. Serve them warm on their own, with vanilla ice cream, or stuffed with chopped pistachio. The same dough makes kala jamun if fried darker. Rasmalai mixes come in plain, saffron, almond and pistachio flavours, and they are served chilled after biryani or at Eid, Diwali and weddings, often next to a bowl of kheer or payasam or a tall falooda.

The secret to good jamun is gentle heat. Knead the dough lightly and keep it moist, roll smooth balls with no cracks, and fry them in ghee or oil over a low flame so they brown slowly and cook through. Drop them into syrup that is warm, not boiling, and leave them for at least two hours. The syrup itself is just white sugar, water and a splash of rose water.