Gulab jamun cake

Gulab jamun, the traditional Indian sweet. Think of any festival and gulab jamun will figure in it. Traditional balls of mava in sticky golden syrup....mouth watering. While browsing in the morning, having made a Christmas cake, I came across this interesting recipe so I said why not??? I gave the original recipe a bit of a twist, but the credit still goes to www.anuskitchen.cucumbertown.com
The best part of this recipe is it's eggless and made of whole wheat!!

Ingredients
Gulab jamun mix - 3/4 cup (I used Gits)
Whole wheat flour (atta) - 3/4 cup
Powdered sugar - 3/4 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Almond/cashew/pistachio slivers - 2 teaspoons
Oil (I used refined oil) - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/4 teaspoon
Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon

Method
1. Add gulab jamun mix and sugar in a mixer and mix thoroughly. (The idea is to blend them together while breaking lumps if any in the mix and aerating the mixture.
2. Sift the wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda 2-3 times in a separate bowl. While doing so hold the 'chalni' (sifter) 5-6 inches above the bowl to properly aerate the flour.
3. Add the gulab jamun and sugar powder mixture to the flour and mix well.
4. Add the oil and mix.
5. Add milk and fold gently so that no lumps are left. Do not over mix the batter as we don't want to work the gluten too much.
6. Pour the batter into a greased tin  top with the slivers of almonds/cashew/pistachios and bake in a pre heated oven at 180° for 30 minutes.
7. Check if done using a toothpick.
You can eat the cake as it is either hot or cold. But to get the festive gulab jamun spirit, I suggest you add the syrup. It's a major force multiplier!!!!

Syrup
Ingredients
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Orange juice - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup Orange zest - 1 teaspoon
Kesar (saffron) - 10 - 15 strands

For people who don't fancy the tang of Oranges, you can skip the orange juice and zest part, and add cardamom in place.

Method
Add sugar, orange juice, zest and water in a pan, dissolve in the syrup without bringing it to a boil, once the sugar dissolves, add the kesar; bring the syrup to a boil. Now reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

As soon as the cake is out of the oven, douse it lovingly and generously with the syrup. Cover and cool to room temperature.
Your cake is ready to be enjoyed.