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Ole Year Offerings (2006): Trinidad Goolab Jamoon and Sarina’s Passionate Mint Tea

29 December 2006 2,787 views 15 Comments

Goolab Jamoon and Passionate Mint Tea!

So far I have only shared savory dishes for New Year’s so I thought it was time to mix it up with something sweet! Especially since the theme of this month’s Sugar High Friday was Sugar Art! Goolab jamoon is a sweet finger food that is commonly served at Indian weddings, pujas and other celebrations here in Trinidad. It is made from a creamy fragrant dough that is deep fried and then drizzled with a reduced sugar syrup that quickly crystallizes on the doughy puffs providing both sweetness and sparkle. The syrup is usually made with white sugar which makes the puffs look like they have been covered in snow. I only had brown sugar on hand so the effect is not quite the same but it’s still pretty no? ;)

I have paired it with a concoction that I’m calling Sarina’s Passionate Mint Tea. What’s so passionate about it? Well the addition of passion fruit juice of course! I love love love love love all things passion fruit and am always looking for excuses to add the flavour to my concoctions :)

Goolab Jamoon

Goolab Jamoon


Ingredients:

4 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground elychee (cardamom)
1 cup butter
1/2 cup water
1 can 14-oz condensed milk
oil for frying
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Directions:

1. Sift flour into bowl and add spices

2. Add butter and rub into flour

3. Add liquids and knead to a smooth and stiff dough. You may need to add additional flour. Do so by the handful, kneading after each addition until you have a smooth silky dough that doesn’t stick to your hands and is still shiny :)

4. Taking a tablespoon of dough each time roll into balls. Taper the ends until you have an oblong shape, then roll the ends further almost to a point.

5. Heat oil in a deep pot or wok and carefully deep fry until dark golden brown (use a medium heat or dough will burn)

6. Drain

7. Make a sugar syrup by boiling 2 cups sugar in 1 cup water until thick and very bubbly. When sugar spins a thread, boil for another two minutes

8. Pour hot and bubbly onto goolab jamoon.
9. Drain and coat with sugar syrup, turning to coat until sugar crystallizes

Makes about 40 goolab jamoon

Goolab Jamoon

Passionate Mint Tea

Passionate Mint Tea


Ingredients:

6 single tea bags (mint tea), steeped in 1 litre of hot water for 1 hour
4 cups (1 litre) hot water
1 1/2 cup passionfruit juice
2 cups simple syrup (2 cups sugar boiled in 2 cups water)
1 lime, juiced

Directions:

1. Remove tea bags from cooled tea.
2. Add pineapple juice, pineapple syrup and lime juice. Mix thoroughly.
3. Serve ice cold over cracked ice

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15 Comments »

  • Danielle said:

    That does look delicious! Thank you for joining in.

    # 29 December 2006 at 8:26 am | link
  • T.W. Barritt said:

    These remind me of beignets, but the use of cinnamon and cardamom in the pastry must smell wonderful when it is fried and coated in the spun sugar! Happy New Year!

    # 30 December 2006 at 12:08 am | link
  • Sarina said:

    Hi T.W. :) Thanks for passing by TriniGourmet! :D I’ve seen the word beignet before but never actually had one so I just went to look it up :) I can see the similarities :) The smell of the goolab jamoon dough is so strong and heavenly as you are kneading it, and the flavour is really hard to describe especially when using freshly ground spices :)

    Hope you’ll be back around and a happy new year to you and yours!

    # 30 December 2006 at 12:27 am | link
  • Lilandra said:

    My mommy makes the best gulab jamoon ever.
    Unfortunately I can’t seem to find any pictures

    # 30 December 2006 at 6:03 am | link
  • Sarina said:

    Lilandra, take pics when next she makes nah :D

    # 30 December 2006 at 6:42 am | link
  • Lilandra said:

    I thought we did. I will go looking. Chennette has pix of hers on flickr but not mom’s.

    # 30 December 2006 at 5:13 pm | link
  • burekaboy said:

    omg, sarina! one of my favourite indian desserts but i’ve never seen them THIS way. then, again, i’ve never visited your beautiful country (we have lots of trinidadians here where i live) to try them. [i think i gained weight looking at them!] i’ll have to try making them this way one of these days :)

    # 31 December 2006 at 8:58 pm | link
  • Sarina said:

    Hee :) Yeah many of our dishes ended up becoming distinctly Trinidadian while still retaining their ties to, and the names of, the ‘old countries’ :) Always fascinating and interesting to me to see how similar or dissimilar they have ended up being :)
    When you give them a try let me know how they came out :) Fresh spices are the best and don’t let the sugar boil too long else it will not really coat the puffs, it will ’seize’ up :)

    Hope you’re having fun, I am hearing the fireworks going on in the neighborhood already :P

    Oh! And the goolab jamoon freeze really well :) Just pop em in the microwave for a few seconds on high and they’re good to go! :D Think I’m gonna have one or two in a bit myself :) (from the above batch) :D

    # 31 December 2006 at 9:28 pm | link
  • Brilynn said:

    I have a serious sweet tooth and these look like they would satisfy it, very nice!

    # 2 January 2007 at 11:31 am | link
  • Sarina said:

    Oh give them a try :D The spiciness of the flour cuts the sugar coating to create a nice balance :D

    # 2 January 2007 at 1:16 pm | link
  • Gulab Jamoon Recipe « Lifespan of a Chennette said:

    [...] dough yes, but glazed with sugar, not soaked. Traditionally made in elongated ovoid shapes (see Trini Gourmet’s recipe or this picture from my brother’s wedding boxes, for the more usual shape). However, since I [...]

    # 26 October 2007 at 12:11 am | link
  • Sebastian said:

    gulab jammon, ras malai and other balls or morsels made of flour or thickened milk and then fried in oil and then dunked in syrup or poached right in the syrup are fantastic

    this kind of desert is popular and has many variations throughout india, pakistan all the way thru iran, yemen, lebanon, the middle east and greece!

    # 13 December 2008 at 11:47 am | link
  • Ava E said:

    This recipe does make me hungry!!! I think I’ll try it this weekend

    # 14 January 2009 at 5:47 pm | link
  • Sandy said:

    Can I make this dough in a kitchen aid mixer?

    Thanks

    Sandy

    # 29 April 2009 at 11:53 am | link
  •   Gulab Jamoon Recipe — Lifespan of a Chennette said:

    [...] dough yes, but glazed with sugar, not soaked. Traditionally made in elongated ovoid shapes (see Trini Gourmet’s recipe or this picture from my brother’s wedding boxes, for the more usual shape). However, since I [...]

    # 15 May 2009 at 9:21 pm | link

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