Last night, at our friends Ted and Lily’s place, we had summer Northwest surf and turf in the form of country ribs and grilled salmon that Ted had caught up north. Lily’s one of my friends that I can get really nerdy with about food.

  And I got this recipe for Gulab Jamun (referenced in my meme a few post back–you all seem to want it). It’s from her The Bengal Lancer’s Indian Cookbook, written by the owners of the now defunct Chicago restaurant and one of the best home Indian cooking books I’ve seen. (It’s now out of print, so try amazon.com for used copies)Their’s is the closest to the recipe I remember:

1 cup dry whole milk
1/2 cup self-rising
flour (Bisquick or Krusteaz, for you snobs)
5 TBL unsalted butter
7 ounces evaporated milk or cream
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups water
2 TBL rose water (specialty shops or http://chefshop.com)
Seeds of 10 Cardamom pods, crushed
    you can buy just the seeds, but visit a past POST of mine for my
    Cardamom-is-the-greatest-thing-ever diatribe
Canola Oil for deep frying
Yields aprox. 1 1/2 dozen
1.) Mix together dry whole milk, flour, and cardamom seeds.
2.) Add butter and rub gently 4 to 5 minutes.
3.)Gradually pour evaporated milk or cream into the mixture and blend well. It should form into a sticky lump. If too sticky, cover it for a few minutes and it will harden a bit.
4.) Shape the milk-flour substance into 20 balls. Cover and set aside.
5.)To prepare the syrup, dissolve sugar in 2 1/2 cups water. Boil 8 to 10 minutes; then simmer gently over very low heat.
6.) Heat vegetable oil on low flame for deep frying. Fry balls until golden, turning frequently. The balls will swell during frying, so do several batches. Drain on paper towels.
7.) Add fried gulab jamun to warm syrup. Add rose water. Soak for at least 4 hours. You can reheat or just serve at room temp. (Can be refrigerated)

Wines we drank:

  Blanco Nieva Verdejo ($11ish) from Rueda, just Northwest of madrid skirting the Duero river–I always looked to this as a wine list staple, but make sure you get this bottle which says "con uva Verdejo" small under the title. They make a Sauvignon with almost exactly the same label. I like it, but it’s a disappointment if you’re expecting Verdejo.

  Domaine de Pellehaut "Harmonie de Gascogne" ($8ish) Armagnac producers with a great wine track record–this is a blend of mainly Ugni Blanc and Gros Manseng from Charles Neal Selections  out of San Francisco (distributed through Grape Expectations on the west coast).

  Same idea, fresh aromas of lime flower and herb at low volume, not the full-on grapefruit and grassiness of a Sauvignon Blanc. Refreshingly crisp and dry-with subtly, no raspiness. Not so disimilar from one another.

  Geeking out: the Verdejo has a hint of orange peel and a slight spiciness, while the Pellehaut leans more toward grapefruit and a bit more cool green, what we Northwesterners would call "alpine meadow."