Gulab jamun is one of the most beloved desserts in India. These soft, sweet spheres dunked in a special sugar syrup are associated with supreme comfort, satisfaction and indulgence. Gulab jamun is known to be an everyday treat since its enjoyment is not restricted to specific seasons or festive periods. Recently, a video showing a foreign vlogger making gulab jamun from scratch at home went viral on social media. At first, the idea might sound appealing - what could be wrong about non-Indians getting the chance to relish this popular desi sweet? However, in this case, a lot went wrong, and it all began with the recipe followed by the content creator.
Also Read: Travel Vlogger Tries Gulab Jamun For The First Time, Watch His Priceless Reaction
The now-viral video was shared by Sam Jose (@_samjose_). In the video, he explains that he is making Indian gulab jamun as he starts his prep. We see him mixing various ingredients in a large bowl: milk powder, flour, eggs, oil, cardamom, etc. He whisks them together and then uses his hand to combine them to form a dough. He adds some milk to knead the dough. Once it is ready, he breaks off small pieces of the dough and rolls them into balls. He says, "These are basically just milk powder doughnut holes, which I'm a little sceptical about. But I'm also kinda down for it."
He deep-fries the dough balls until they are golden-brown. Noting their appearance, he states, "At this point, all my worries have gone out the window, because just these alone look absolutely amazing." After this, he starts work on the second part of the sweet dish: the syrup for the gulab jamun. He pounds a few saffron strands in a mortar and pestle. He pours what looks to be a small quantity of water on them and sets them aside. Next, he dissolves sugar in water in a pan over heat to prepare the syrup. He adds the saffron from earlier as well as a few rose petals to the liquid. Finally, he soaks the fried dough balls in this syrup. He garnishes the gulab jamun with what seems to be chopped pistachios. Based on the presentation alone, he rates them a 10/10. However, their taste gets a 6/10 from him. "The milk powder is throwing it off for me," he said.
Also Read: 5 Signs Of A True Gulab Jamun Lover
In the comments below this viral video, many foodies pointed out that ingredients like egg and milk powder are traditionally not used while making gulab jamun. Some highlighted other problems with the recipe. Read selected reactions below:
"Pretty sure there are no eggs in gulab jamun."
"You gotta make it with khoya."
"Who told you to add milk powder, buddy?"
"Buy a good gulab jamun premix instead of this."
"Milk powder and eggs are not a part of gulab jamun... Gulab jamun is made from hariyali mawa ...idk if that's available outside of India.. but yea it's made from hariyali mawa and it takes a lot of time and effort."
"You didn't soak them properly, they were supposed to be soaked like fully dunked so that the sugar can absorb the ball haha, but you did phenomenal!"
"It's 6/10 because you didn't cook it authentically. Buy them from an Indian store and it's 10000/10."
"There has to be absolutely no egg in gulab jamun, as an Indian, this was so difficult to watch, but anyways, it looks good. Can't say the same about the taste, though."
Before this, the same vlogger caught the attention of many Indians when he tried to make puri bhaji. His viral video angered foodies. Click here to find out why.