Gulab Jamun

December 23rd, 2006 filed under Desserts
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Gulab jamuns are an Indian version of donuts immeresed in the warm sweet syrup. Served as a dessert, this is a staple in most parts of India.

Makes 20.

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup nonfat milk powder
  • 1/4 cup All Purpose flour (plain flour, maida)
  • 3 tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup room temperature whole milk
  • Pinch of baking soda
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 4 coarsely grounded cardamom seeds
  • 1 tablespoon sliced almonds and pistachio
  • Oil for deep-frying

Method:

Syrup:

  1. In a large pan, add water, sugar, and ground cardamom seeds and bring it to a boil.
  2. Let the syrup boil for a minute then remove it from the heat.
  3. Stir the syrup until the sugar is dissolved.
  4. Set the syrup aside.

Gulab Jamun:

  1. In a bowl, mix milk powder, flour and baking soda.
  2. Add the butter and mix well.
  3. Now add milk to make soft dough. The dough will be sticky.
  4. Let the dough sit for a few minutes. Milk powder will absorb the extra milk. If the dough is dry, add more milk, as the dough should be soft.
  5. Knead the dough. Grease your hands with butter before working with the dough.
  6. Divide the dough into about 20 equal portions and roll them into round balls.
  7. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. The frying pan should have at least 1 ½ inch of oil. To test if the oil is the right temperature, place a small piece of dough into the oil; it should take a minute to rise. If dough rises faster, oil is too hot; if dough just sits without rising, oil is not hot enough.
  8. Place the gulab Jamuns in the frying pan. Note: remember gulab jamuns will expand in double the volume, so give them enough space.
  9. It should take about 7 minutes to fry the gulab jamuns. While frying keep rolling the gulab jamuns around so they are evenly browned. Fry until the gulab jamuns become dark brown.
  10. Let the gulab jamuns cool off for a few minutes before placing in the hot syrup.
  11. The gulab jamuns should sit in the hot syrup for at least 20 minutes prior to serving. Gulab jamuns can be kept at room temperature for about a week and up to one month when refrigerated. Gulab jamuns can be frozen for months.

Tips:

  1. If the gulab jamuns are fried on high heat, they will become hard inside and not fully cooked.
  2. Too much baking soda will cause the gulab jamuns to get too soft or they will break apart when frying.
  3. Don’t place the gulab jamuns in the syrup immediately after frying. This will cause the gulab jamuns to lose their shape and become chewy.

Variations:

  1. Using the same recipe, make slightly smaller gulab jamuns (say, 24 instead of 20). After the gulab jamuns are soaked in the syrup, take gulab jamuns out of the syrup and roll them in ½ cup of unsweetened coconut powder. Also, you can substitute coarsely ground almonds for the coconut powder.
  2. Using the same recipe, make about 10 larger gulab jamuns. Cut the gulab jamuns in half when they are at room temperature. Garnish with sliced almonds and pistachios.

374 Responses to “Gulab Jamun”

  1. anamikajain says:

    Hi manjulaji,

    I made your gulab jamun recipe , it really came good . but it is removing lot of ghee from gulab jamun in the syrup. can i make gulab jamuns without using clarified butter or less butter.

    thanks,
    anamika jain

  2. [...] Decadent Gulab Jaman Adapted from Manjula’s Gulab Jamun Recipe. [...]

  3. itisam says:

    Dear Manjula Aunty,
    I tried ur gulab jamun recipe once it was very good. but 2nd time onwards the dough becomes very sticky and starts to ooze out fat (probably from butter). I donot have a clue what I am doing wrong. Plz advice.

  4. Aisha says:

    Hello manjula anty, hopefully u will be fine.today I tried ur gulab jamun receipe..it was good in texture,colour and taste but the problem with them they are not fully soak with Shira they are little bit dry and hard from inside ..can you help me in this matter.one more thine how can we use remaining Shira? Thank

  5. faiza says:

    hi, Aunty your recipe is fabulous..my daughter who is three years loves this sweet but today I got the very right recipe and save lots of monay being in USA ( as Indian things are extremely expensive here )
    one problem I faced was when I put them in syrup, it didnt went through all of inside of Gulab jamun. can you tell me the reason.. otherwise taste is so good. thanks. May God bless you.

  6. mrs ekta malhotra says:

    I love ur recipes.plz keep on sending me latest recipes online.

  7. Padma Priya says:

    Hi aunty, i prepared my jamuns but it becomes so sticky and smelly after 2, 3 days.What went wrong in my preparation?I put the balls immediately after frying into the syrup.Is it wrong?

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