Gulab jamun is a dessert fit for a president

The Western-style interior of the Coffee Shop on the ground floor of the Ashok Hotel.

NEW DELHI - During my recent trip to India, I ate more Korean meals than I do in Seoul. My fellow journalists and I stayed at a Korean guesthouse, and the arrangement included a sumptuous breakfast and dinner featuring a wide variety of Korean dishes. The host of the guesthouse was also kind enough to prepare lunch boxes for us, and warn us that we’d better not eat anything from the streets or casual restaurants if we wanted to avoid stomach trouble.

After days of the Korean feast, I was really disappointed that I hadn’t had a chance to try the local cuisine, but my rank in the hierarchy of our group - at the bottom - didn’t give me an opportunity to speak up.

Then, during an interview with a Korean-Indian artist couple and their children, I got the chance to taste one of India’s popular desserts.

The Coffee Shop is located on the ground floor of the Ashok Hotel. The cafe with the simple name is a spacious place with Western-style decor, overlooking the swimming pool of Delhi’s first five-star hotel. Its menu features a wide range of Western and Indian snacks and beverages, and the manager, who spoke some English, recommended gulab jamun with vanilla ice cream (200 rupees, or $4.31) when I asked if I could have some kind of Indian sweet while others in my group were having coffee.

Gulab jamun, the sweet Indian dessert. By Ser Myo-ja

I was served with a small ball of deep-fried milk dough soaked in sugar syrup, a la mode. As I used my spoon to cut the ball in half, cottage cheese appeared inside the fried pastry. The syrup tasted like it was flavored with saffron and maybe other spices. The dessert was extremely sweet, but I loved the new taste of India.

The only pity was the vanilla ice cream that came with the tasty golden-fried paneer (Indian cheese) dough. The ice cream was nothing gourmet. With no real hint of vanilla beans present, it tasted like a cheap brand from a grocery store. Moreover, the ice cream melted quickly as the gulab jamun had been newly fried and served hot, so I had to scoop the pastry out from the melted ice cream to preserve the taste.

The portion of gulab jamun was very small, about the size of a munchkin from Dunkin’ Donuts, but the flavor was so intense that it may be hard to have several at once.

The dessert appears to be a very popular choice in India. I learned that during President Lee Myung-bak’s visit there last week, gulab jamun was the dessert at the state dinner at the Indian presidential palace.

Although I had no chance to taste many Indian dishes during my trip, I am satisfied that at least I had tried a presidential dessert.

The Coffee Shop at the Ashok Hotel

Location: Diplomatic Enclave, 50-B Chanak-yapuri, New Delhi

Telephone: (91-11) 26110101 (the hotel’s number)

By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr]

korea joongAng daily

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Gulab jamun is a dessert fit for a president

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