CARROT JAMUNS N CARDAMOM MILK – sweet carrot dumplings in an exotic cardamom flavored milk with almonds and saffron; a heavenly and easy make ahead dessert for any occasion!
I am part of a Face book gourmet group called “Healthy Wellthy cuisines” which gets together every 15 days and we share a dish, the theme which is decided by all of us. This week it is all about sweets and desserts; “Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye”! My contribution is this decadent and divine Carrot Jamuns in Cardamom Milk. Do check out these other sweet delicacies shared by my blogger friends on HealthyWellthy Cuisines:
Palapazham sharkarai pongal by Seema Badam Gur Phirni by Swaty Atta Ladoos by Shalu Wheat Halwa by Ruchi
Now, back to this dessert which I love! I do have a sweet tooth and one of my all time favorites is the ubiquitous Indian dessert from Bengal, Rasmalai; soft, plumpy and juicy cottage cheese dumplings soaking in a sweet, exotic, saffron and cardamom infused thick milk! The thickened milk is so scrumptious; I could drink it as such; something like badam milk (almond, saffron and cardamom infused milk) which we Indians love, cold or hot! With carrots in season (being winter and all), I wanted to make this recipe Carrot Jamuns in Cardamom milk; that has been languishing in my handwritten cookbook for years (or decades you can say!). This unique dessert is something like my Gulab Jamuns in Rabdi, albeit using homemade carrot dumplings instead of pure milk dumplings like in Gulab jamuns!
WHAT ARE CARROT JAMUNS?
Everyone is familiar with gulab jamuns but this dessert has dumplings made of carrots; yes carrots! Just cook and mash carrots (steaming is best to avoid any more moisture in dumplings) along with paneer (Indian cottage cheese), some bread slices, cardamom powder and sugar to make a dough that can be made into dumplings. To remove more moisture, sauté this on medium low flame until it forms a thick dough, cool and shape into dumplings; round or oblong shaped. I have added a bit of roasted suji/semolina to help absorb more moisture and bind the dough a bit; optional. Once the carrot “dough” is ready, refrigerate until the cardamom milk is ready. Make dumplings (round or oblong) before adding into cooled cardamom milk.
TO MAKE CARDAMOM MILK:
Basically it is like a rasmalai milk; with milk, sugar, almonds and saffron. To make it more flavorful; I love to add some Badam Milk powder (store bought) which gives it a lovely aroma. This mix has saffron, cardamom, bits of almonds, almond powder and milk powder in it. If you cannot find it or do not have this, just add some sugar and cardamom powder, sprinkle some saffron strands and simmer the milk until slightly thick. To give it more richness, add some ground almond powder (leave some bits of almonds for the texture) or soak some almonds, peel and blend with some milk and then add this to the simmering milk. Once this is ready, cool a bit and then soak the carrot jamuns in it for a minimun of 4 hours (or best overnight!) before serving. The final dish is so decadent with soft, sweet and delicious carrot dumplings in a divine rasmalai flavored milk! Just be gentle with the carrot “jamuns” as they are not as firm as the regular gulab jamuns! Kept for a longer time, the carrot dumplings start slowly disintegrating to flavor the milk that tastes like a carrot and paneer kheer; mmmm, loved that to bits! You guys got to try this! This gives me a great idea to make carrot and paneer kheer next time!
CAN I MAKE THIS DESSERT AHEAD OF TIME?
Yes, it can be made a few hours ahead and I would suggest you do even a day ahead! If made a day before, the dumplings turn a bit soft (as you can see above), so you have to be careful when spooning out the dumplings while serving. The added benefit is, these carrot “jamuns become super soft (yumm!) and start to slowly disintegrate a bit which infuses the already delicious cardamom milk with sweet carrot bits! A bonus dessert is carrot kheer! My hubby and I are enjoying every bit of it! Do enjoy this unique dessert which is going in my list of must serve at parties! Enjoy foodie friends and Happy Cooking!
Here are some more easy desserts you must try:
Vegan Lauki Kheer Quinoa Payasam Bread Gulab Jamuns in Jaggery Syrup Gulab Jamun with Instant Rabdi
Lets check out how to make Carrot Jamuns in Cardamom Milk:
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FOR THE CARROT JAMUNS: 200 gm carrots (about 1 ½ cups peeled and chopped) 100 gm paneer (made from fresh milk or store bought) crumbled 2 small slices whole wheat or white bread 2 tsp fine suji/semolina/rava (optional) 3 to 4 tbsp sugar ½ tsp cardamom powder 1 tsp ghee FOR THE CARDAMOM MILK: 500ml milk (or even more if you need more syrup with your jamuns) 4 to 5 tbsp almond milk powder like MTR Badam Mix Powder or any other brand) or as needed 2 to 3 tbsp sugar or as needed Few strands of saffron ½ to ¾ tsp cardamom powder Few slivers or chopped almonds for garnishing
Instructions Notes If you cannot find almond milk powder, add sugar instead and stir in some ground almond powder or paste to thicken the cardamom milk. (To make almond paste, soak almonds, peel and blend with some milk to a fine paste). If you love nuts, feel free to add chopped bits of nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews etc.) in the cardamom milk. Enjoy!!
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