Gulab Jamun Sandwich

Gulab Jamun are the “go to” sweet dish for every home in India. Popular, Likeable, or should I say lovable by every soul. And, if you love Gulab Jamuns, then a Gulab Jamun Sandwich just comes in as something fancier and nicer.

Though Gulab Jamuns aren’t referred to as Bengali sweets, but I think the variation has nothing to do with Bengal. Gulab Jamun sandwich is a milk solid based rich sweet from the Indian subcontinent, very popular in India, Nepal, Pakistan. In Maldives they call it Gulab Jaanu Sandwich, and in Bangladesh, its called Gulaab Jaam Sandwich.

It is made mainly from milk solids, traditionally from Khoya, which is milk reduced to the consistency of a soft dough. Mixing in butter, flour, and milk/yogurt with the soft Khoya and form cylindrical balls, deep fry and add them to the sugar syrup. The sugar syrup is made of sugar, water, saffron, cardamom powder and rose water. Modern recipes call for dried/powdered milk instead of Khoya, which is fine as well. The middle part is made of Khoya and granulated sugar. You can always add a few saffron stands and screw pine water for enhancing flavors. It is often garnished with dried nuts such as crushed pistachios and almonds to enhance flavor.

For preparing this it is necessary to give cylindrical shape to  the classic or traditional Gulab Jamun and fill it with extra khoya in between. You don’t really need that little mix pack or run to the store to have these perfect, rich delights at home. Making Gulab Jamun Sandwich at home, with ingredients you will find at home, is pretty easy and not at all time consuming. The only thing you need is a perfect recipe.

Now, if you ever thought Gulab Jamun Sandwich is a gift of India to the world, you are wrong. Gulab Jamuns are actually a gift from the Mughals. All these sweet dishes that used Orange Blossom water or Rose water or screw pine water with saffron are all delicacies that came in from the Middle East and were introduced to Indian cuisine during the Mughal Era.

As the history says, the Gulab Jamuns were first prepared in the era of medieval times in India, derived from a sweet fritter recipe that a Central Asian Turkish invader brought to India. One theory also claims that it was accidentally prepared by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s personal chef. All in all, it is a sweet dish inspired by the Middle east.

The word “Gulab” is derived from the Persian words gul, which means flower and āb, means water, referring to the rose water-scented syrup. Jamun is also defined as a fried delicacy in dipped in sugar syrup. A middle eastern dessert Luqmat al-qadi is very similar to gulab jamun, though it uses a different batter. Gulaab jamun Sandwich must be a variation tried by the Mughal Emperors as well, since the era has its own tales of rich food, made from Milk, saffron and dry fruits. And, I believe if a community can make use of milk solids to cook their non vegetarian dishes, they can definitely do a lot with their vegetarian sweet dish.

These outstanding Gulab Jamun Sandwich have a remarkable depth of taste and texture, achieved very carefully combining few ingredients to form cylindrical balls. Fry them slowly in ghee or oil, further soak them in syrup, Cut them from the middle and fill the middle part with Khoya filling. Decorate with a silver leaf and crushed nuts. Serve and amaze. With such detailed recipe, its hard to go wrong.

Plain Shrikhand

When I was in school, I had a friend from the southern part of India. Her father was in a transferable job and he happened to be in Jodhpur for a few years. We were good friends and we used to have playdates. The family had a maid, who was an old woman and she traveled with them wherever they went. She was from their hometown and she was a super amazing cook. The people in the family, including my friend, lovingly called her “Amma”. My first experience of trying Shrikhand was at my friend’s house and I remember not liking the first look. Then I was told that its yogurt with sugar and I was convinced since I loved my Dahi-chini.

First, bite into that yummy dish and I loved it so much. I was ten years old then and I still came home and told my mom everything I gathered, but unfortunately, the information wasn’t enough for her to recreate that sweet magic.

And, then came in a company selling their flavored shrikhand in the market, and of course, we were the first few buyers in our closest store in the neighborhood. A store-bought product is something that was made weeks or even months ago, contains preservatives, has been refrigerated, thawed, and refrigerated, may taste great, but you know your portion has to be very controlled and you can’t eat it as carefree as it would be with something homemade. The difference between the first Shrikhand I tried at my friend’s house and the store-bought one was the texture of the Yogurt. While the Shrikhand at my friend’s house was a little runny, the store-bought one was thick and creamy.

I, then started experimenting and tried making my own Shrikhand at home, following all the advice of hanging the yogurt for at least 30 minutes, using castor sugar, and grinding cardamoms to a perfect powder. But, nothing would match the taste. There was something that was lacking and I just couldn’t figure that out. With time, my zest to perfect my Shrikhand took a back seat too.

A few years later, after I am settled as a homemaker, I try my hands on it again. This time my experiment had two new ingredients, Vanilla essence, and Rosewater. Now for those of you who love making Shrikhand at home, the rule is to always hang your Yogurt in a muslin cloth so it takes away all the excess water. If you do not have a lot of time in hand, since hanging the yogurt requires anywhere between 45-60 minutes, you can also use Greek Yogurt. Greek Yogurt is thick and 15 minutes in muslin cloth is enough to drain out the excess moisture. Now, you might already be adding rose water, but the addition of Vanilla essence just makes it a whole lot better. Vanilla essence not only enhances the sweetness but also the flavor adds a lot of freshness to this sweet dish.

So, don’t wait to try this awesomely delicious and super easy, no-cook, no-bake sweet dish and impress everyone around you.