Vegan Gulabjamun

http://stylecooker.com/img/gulabjamun.jpg
Vegan Gulab Jamun
Ingredients:
1)350 gms.Tofu
2)4 slices White Bread(I had used brown , but I feel may be white would be better)
3)1/2 a spoon Baking Powder
4)1/2 a spoon Bicarbonate of Soda
5)10 green Cardamoms(elaichi)
6)2 cups Demerara Sugar
7)2 cups Water(the measuring cup/ katori must be the same for both sugar and water)
8)1/4 cup grated Coconut


Method:
1)Grind the bread in a food processor to make bread crumbs.
2)After taking out the bread crumbs, add shelled-out cardamoms and grind them to a fine powder.
3)Whiz the tofu in the food processor for about two minutes or so.
4)Mix well the tofu, bread crumbs and powdered cardamoms in the food processor for about two minutes.
5) In a cup, add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and about 2 tablespoons of warm water.Add this mixture immediately to the mixture of tofu, bread crumbs and cardamoms and mash it well to ensure its mixed all over.
6) Make tiny balls of this mixture.(A minimum of 20 can be easily made from this quantity.)Keep the balls aside for about 30-45 minutes.
7)In a heavy base pan, add sugar and water . Heat it on a high flame for few minutes till it forms a syrup.Add the grated coconut to it( optional- add the outer coverings of the cardamoms too , to utilise them well!)
8)Deep fry the balls on high heat till golden brown.
9)Add the balls in the syrup.
8)One can start eating them right away or for a better taste wait for few hours to let the syrup sink in the balls adequately!!!

(Personal observation-Its one of those items which taste better by the next day.Don't worry, they can very well be enjoyed absolutely fresh too, . . . try it out yourself to see what I mean!)

I've been wondering whether vegan Guladjaamun should be its right name.Please help me on this soon. Should we call it something like, 'Tofu dumplings'/'Golden Balls'????

Looks yummy!

I think finding whole green cardamom to grind may be hard where I live. Would pre-ground powder be OK?

I'd stick with the original title for the name. What do they normally contain that makes them not vegan? dairy?

Yes, you can use already powdered Cardamom powder.

Yes, orgininally, it is made with one of milk products.

You can give added color/flavor to sugar syrup with Saffron.:)

So is it supposed to taste sort of like a doughnut? I'm quite ignorant on ethnic food, which I am very sad for.

It is juicy sweet, soft and spongy. Favourite sweet desert of India.

sounds delicious, thanks Indianvegan!

Thanks, Gorilla. Try it. It taste fantastic.

sound fab - look scrummy - thanks for the recipe! now just need to find the time to make them!:)

Vava, indeed it is scrumptious. It is most mouth watering dish in my country.

Manish

I don't think you mentioned which oil would be the most traditional to fry them in. I have peanut oil on hand but I worry they might take on a peanut flavor that I don't think would be traditional, but maybe interesting. What oil do you use?

Sunflower Refined Oil, I used it for deep frying. It has no flavour/odour of its own. I used Sundrop brand.

while we're on the topic of mithai, are there any types of mithai from the shop which would be standardly vegan? hope you can help with this as i used to love mithai before becoming vegan! indian food is so milky!

There is no pure Vegan Mithai Shops here in India.

But, you can get many sweets usually dry fruits based. For ex. Kaju Katli, Badam Barfi, Anjeer (figs) burfi. Pista Burfi, Dates Laddu etc.

Quote:

---

indianvegan

Mithai

---

whats that then?

Mithai is Hindi Word which means ''sweets''.

Those look great, Manish :) Thanks for posting the recipe!

Yes, Fiamma, scrumptious. Enjoy !! :p

ooo gulab jamums used to be my fave, I have to try making these for my fam (my grandma is from india so would love to try some home made gulab lamuns again). does you have a recipe for milk sweets? I've only just realised that I won't be able to buy them again (I used to go quite often to birmingham to get a load) and it has made me very very sad!!!

what milk sweets you are referring here?

I'm afraid I don't know what they are called but they are plain white sweets with a slightly crumbly texture that taste as if they are made from sweetened condensed milk.

ooo i think they are called burfi.

oh right, Burfis can not made without condensed milk.

You can try Cashew Nut Burfi which is called Kaju katli. Must be available at Indian stores. It is more delicious.

similarly, you can try out Almond Burfi, Walnut's burfi as well. all are very good.

brilliant thank you, though it is a shame about the plain milk burfi. I ahve tried cashew burfi when I was india actually, and loved it. It was filled a kind of caramalised nut, will definitely try making them.

These look wonderful. Thank you so much for posting the recipe! I've added them to my 'Make soon!' list.
My mother was born in India where her parents had lived for many years and when I was a wee girl, we would go to a shop in Glasgow which sold Indian sweets. My favourites were jelabies (totally wrong spelling, I'm sure...) They were SO sweet! I haven't tried making them yet...

These were my fav Indian dessert - thank you so much for posting the recipe!

Ooh they look really yummy. Am going to try have a go at making them tomorrow. Thanks for posting it up.

My local Indian takeaway sells these and they are labelled vegan too. Must remember not to put them in the microwave next time though as they tray they came in was made of cornstarch and everything melted all over the microwave :o