preparing jamuns: take khoya/mava/evaporated milk in a bowl. soft khoya also known as daap ka khoya or chikna khoya is used for gulab jamuns. this is a soft khoya, so it mashes and kneads very well.
mash it very well. there should be no lumps or small bits or pieces in the khoya. you can also grate and then mash the khoya.
then add grated paneer, rava/sooji, all purpose flour/maida, baking powder and cardamom powder to the mashed khoya. there should be no lumps in both the mawa and paneer. if there are lumps, then the texture of the gulab jamuns is not even and smooth. the bits and pieces of mawa or paneer give a bite while eating the gulab jamuns.
mix well.
add milk and gather together to form a dough with milk. don’t knead. just gently mix. if you are unable to form balls or if the mixture appears dry, then add a few teaspoons of milk. cover the dough and keep aside for 30 mins.
dissolve sugar in water.
heat the sugar solution till it become sticky. you just need to switch off the fire before the syrup reaches a one thread consistency.
add rose water and stir. keep the sugar solution aside. on cooling if the sugar syrup crystallizes, then just add 2 to 3 tbsp water and warm the syrup again. it will again return to a liquid state.
make small balls from the dough. cover the balls and keep aside.
heat oil till its medium hot. lower the flame and wait for a minute. then gently place the gulab jamuns in the oil. if in case, the jamuns are breaking while being fried, then add some more maida/all purpose flour (about 1 to 2 tbsp) in it. keep aside for for fifteen minutes. then later fry. you can also check one small piece before frying the rest. if it breaks, then use the tip mentioned above.
once they start to have tiny golden spots, keep on rotating them in the oil, so that the gulab jamuns are evenly browned. since i was taking pics, i browned a few of them extra.
remove the gulab jamuns and then drain them on kitchen paper towels to remove excess oil.
then place the hot gulab jamuns in the sugar syrup. continue frying the gulab jamuns this way in batches.
when all the jamuns are placed in the sugar syrup, then keep the whole pan on a low flame for a few minutes, till the gulab jamuns become soft. heating helps the jamuns to absorb the syrup and become soft. the gulab jamuns increase a bit in size. don’t over cook as then the gulab jamuns break. use a large pan, so that the jamuns are not overcrowded and you can easily stir them gently while they are simmering.
serve gulab jamuns warm or at room temperature. you can also chill the gulab jamuns and serve them cold. garnish the gulab jamuns with rose petals or almond slivers.
khoya(mawa or dried evaporated milk solids) paneer (cottage cheese) maida (all purpose flour) fine sooji (rava or semolina) green cardamoms (choti elaichi) - powdered in a mortar-pestle milk: add as required. *if the sugar syrup has impurities, then add milk and simmer. a layer of scum will be formed. remove this layer with a spoon.