Recipe: Gulab Jamun Pie

For me Diwali has always been super special. As a kid two things were always my favourite, crackers and sweets. I remember going to all my neighbours, greet them Happy Diwali and then attack on the food.

• A Pie Crust
• Gulab Jamun
• Sabayon
• Peanut Paraline
• Melted Chocolate

So let’s start cooking!

Recipe for Gulab Jamun Pie

Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• Cold unsalted butter: 100 gms
• All-purpose flour (Maida): 200 gms
• Salt: 1 teaspoon
• Sugar: 15 gms (1 tablespoon)
• Ice Water:40-45 ml (4 tablespoons)Procedure:

1. Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl.
2. Add the chilled butter and mix till you get bread crumb consistency
3. Pour ice water litter by little. (You don’t need to knead the dough, just bring the mixture together and ensure that you can make a ball of your dough)
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Flour your kitchen counter or board, and roll the dough into a circle
6. Ensure to not to make it too thick or too thin.
7. Put it in a pie mould, if there is extra on top, don’t worry just chop it off.
8. Prick your dish and freeze again for 15-20 minutes
9. Once chilled properly, bake it for 15-18 minutes at 150 degrees Celsius.
10. Take it from the over and let it cool for a bit.

Note: You’ll need a 9-inch pie pan, a rolling pin and dried beans. Your butter must be cold or frozen and cut in to cubes. If you are using salted butter then skip the salt from the ingredients. 

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients:

• Khoya:1 cup
• All-purpose flour (Maida): 3 tablespoon
• Cooking soda: 1/8 tsp
• Elachi: 2
• Sugar: 1 1/2 cups
• Water: 1 1/2 cups
• Saffron (optional): Few strands
• Rose essence (optional): 2 drops
• Ghee: For deep frying

Procedure:

1. Crumble Khoya with your hands and mix with maida and cooking soda in a mixing bowl.
2. Slowly add water and make a smooth dough without any cracks. No need to knead ot too much, make a smooth dough without lumps.
3. Keep aside for 10-15 mins and make equal sized balls. Ensure to make these balls smooth.
4. Mix in water, sugar, powdered elachi and saffron, bring to boil and boil for 8 minutes to 10 minutes in medium flame and prepare the sugar syrup.
5. Heat the ghee (not smoking hot) and fry the jamun. Cook evenly on all the sides. Ensure that the jamuns look golden brown.
6. Drain in kitchen towel to soak all the excess ghee and immediately add it to hot syrup. Let it get soaked well.

Sabayon

You might be curious that what is Sabayon, so basically sabayon is a kind of custard. If you don’t want to use egg, then you can buy a box of custard mix from the market and cook as per the instructions on the box.

Ingredients:

• Egg Yolks-2
• Egg: 1
• Sugar: 90 gms
• Water: 15 ml

Procedure:

1. Whisk the egg yolks, egg and the sugar together in a bowl
2. Cook on a double boiler
3. Once foamy, slowly add water while whisking constantly
4. Keep whisking until the sauce thickens to a custard-like consistency

Note: You can also add 4 tbsp of Marsala Wine instead of water.

Peanut Paraline

Paraline sounds so English and fancy but we all have had it and in fact this is one of my favourite sweets. Paraline is our normal and humble Chikki which we all have in our houses during winters.

Ingredients:

• Roasted Peanuts: 1 cup
• Jaggery: 1 cup
• Powdered Elaichi: ½ tablespoon
• Ghee: 4 tablespoons

Procedure:

1. Crush your roasted peanuts. If you don’t get roasted peanuts, just take the normal unsalted peanuts and dry roast them in a pan.
2. Heat a pan and add 1 cup grated jaggery, 2 tablespoon of ghee, ½ tablespoon elaichi. Stir it continuously until jaggery melts and becomes thick.
3. Pour 1 drop of jaggery in water, it must form a lump. Then, add roasted peanuts and stir it well. Switch off the flame.
4. Transfer into a ghee greased plate and spread it. You can cut it in your desired shapes and sizes. Leave it until it becomes cool.

Note: You can make chikki of sesame seeds, almond, cashews or any other dry fruits.

Melted Chocolate

 Ingredient:

• Dark or milk Chocolate: 50 gms

Procedure:

1. Melt the chocolate on a double boiler and keep it aside.

So do you think it is doable, is there any complexities in this dish? I don’t think so, it is so simple that even kids can make it.

Now all our ingredients are ready, let’s assemble our dish.

Step 1:

We will take our pie crust and quote it with the melted chocolate. What melted chocolate does is it seals the pie and helps in remove the sogginess which comes from pouring any liquid. Once you are done quoting the chocolate, let it set for 4-5 minutes.

Step 2:

Crush the peanut Paraline (chikki) roughly and mix in your sabayon. Let it set for a bit in the fridge.

Step 3: 

Slice the Gulab Jamun and layer it in the pie.

Step 4:

Spread the Sabyon in the pie on top of gulab jamun

Step 5:

Let it set for 10-15 minutes in freezer, and then add one more layer of Gulab Jamun on top. Garnish with some extra crushed peanut Paraline.

Your Diwali Gulab Jamun Pie is ready.

So this Diwali, let’s change the way we look at our usual and good old sweets and try something, keep it simple and yet trendy.

Happy Diwali!

The author, Sadaf Hussain, is a contestant on MasterChef India Season 5