Crumble the khoya thoroughly or mash it well by hand. Ensure there are no lumps or pieces in the khoya. Take a mixing bowl and add the crumbled khoya. To this add maida and cooking soda and mix well.

Add very little water or just sprinkle water to form a smooth and soft dough. No need to knead the dough. Just gather them together to form a dough. Cover the dough aside for 15-20 minutes. Roll out gently to make smooth balls out of the dough.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan on a low flame. Add sugar, saffron strings and water and heat the sugar solution till the sugar is completely dissolved. Do not make it too sticky. Add cardamom powder and mix well. Switch off the flame once the sugar is dissolved fully. Ensure that it does not reach the one string consistency.

Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. When it is medium hot, lower the flame and gently slide the balls into the oil. Roll the jamuns with a ladle for even cooking and colouring. Add 3-4 jamuns at a time so that it is evenly cooked.

NOTES/TIPS:
- Dont knead the dough. Just gently mix and form the balls. If the mixture is dry, add few drops of milk or water and then form balls.
- Ensure there are no lumps or small bits in the khoya. You can also grate the khoya.
- Ensure there are no cracks in the balls. Otherwise it might break while frying.
- While deep frying, oil should be low hot to ensure even cooking and coloring. Or else it gets browned fast.
- The sugar syrup should be warm before you add the fried jamuns to the sugar solution. The syrup should be prepared earlier and kept warm.
- If the oil is too hot, then the gulab jamuns tend to break. Adjust the flame to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.
- You can make small balls as they tend to increase in size once it is soaked in sugar syrup.