Emily Roz: Cardamom & Orange Syrup Dumplings

Makes 12

Vegetarian

Warning: if you like sweet stuff, you’re going to love this dessert – imagine soft, light and squidgy spiced milk dumplings soaked in a cardamom and orange syrup.

It’s my take on gulab jamun, one of my favourite Indian sweets, although here I’ve added egg to bind the dumplings (eggs aren’t a common ingredient for this recipe in India), and orange to add a zesty flavour note. This is a great dish to prepare in advance and store in the fridge if you’ve got guests coming over.

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^{Photo by Haarala Hamilton}

From the book The World Is Your Dumpling by Emily Roz (HarperCollins, £20). Order here

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Dumpling Recipes

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Method

1. In a large bowl, mix together the milk powder, plain flour, ghee, egg, crushed cardamom seeds, orange zest, baking powder and salt.

Add the milk to moisten the dough and mix again until the dough is soft and smooth. Add a little more milk if the dough feels too dry.

2. Divide the dough into 12 equal-sized portions and roll into balls – they should be about 3cm (11⁄4in) in diameter. Don’t squeeze the dough too much as this will compress the air out of it and make the dumplings dense. Just keep rolling gently between the palms of your hands until no creases are visible on the surface of the dough.

3. Pour about 10cm (4in) of vegetable oil into a large saucepan and place over a low-medium heat. To check if the oil is ready, drop in a small piece of dough: if it begins to sizzle, it’s ready.

4. Gently lower the dumplings into the oil and fry for 10 minutes, or until golden brown, flipping halfway. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper (kitchen towel). You may need to deep-fry these in batches.

5. Meanwhile, make the syrup: place another saucepan or large frying pan over a medium heat and add the caster sugar, 400ml (131⁄2fl oz) water, the cardamom crushed seeds and their pods and the orange juice. Bring to the boil and then turn off the heat and leave to cool.

Using a toothpick, prick holes in the dumplings – this will allow them to soak up more of the sugar syrup.

Once your cardamom orange sugar syrup has cooled, transfer the dumplings into the sugar syrup and leave to soak for at least 15 minutes – although the longer you leave them to soak, the better the flavour! If you’re making these in advance you could transfer them to a large container with a lid and store them in the fridge until needed. Serve these hot (by warming them up in a pan) or cold, topped with crushed pistachios and orange zest.