Gulab Jamun
December 23rd, 2006 filed under Desserts
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.
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:
- In a large pan, add water, sugar, and ground cardamom seeds and bring it to a boil.
- Let the syrup boil for a minute then remove it from the heat.
- Stir the syrup until the sugar is dissolved.
- Set the syrup aside.
Gulab Jamun:
- In a bowl, mix milk powder, flour and baking soda.
- Add the butter and mix well.
- Now add milk to make soft dough. The dough will be sticky.
- 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.
- Knead the dough. Grease your hands with butter before working with the dough.
- Divide the dough into about 20 equal portions and roll them into round balls.
- 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.
- Place the gulab Jamuns in the frying pan. Note: remember gulab jamuns will expand in double the volume, so give them enough space.
- 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.
- Let the gulab jamuns cool off for a few minutes before placing in the hot syrup.
- 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:
- If the gulab jamuns are fried on high heat, they will become hard inside and not fully cooked.
- Too much baking soda will cause the gulab jamuns to get too soft or they will break apart when frying.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
Aunty i tried gulab jamuns,they didnt soak much in the sugar syrup.The inside part is soft and cooked but jamuns didnt take much sugar,can you tell me where i went wrong?
Aunty,
I tried your kachori, they came out awesome. thanks..
For the gulab jamun, how do we know when the syrup is ready. how will we know the consistency? Thanks
Hi Pia,
as soon syrup comes to boil and sugar is disolved syrup is ready for gulab jamun.
Hello aunty,
I tried your gulab jamun. The dough came out really good, but when I cooked in oil, the inner part of jamun didn’t get cooked. I tried in several ways, making small balls, but If I leave it for longer time, it turns dark brown. What should I do to make it better? Thank you.
Hello Madhu,
Gulab Jamuns are fried on very low heat.
[...] my recipe for Gulab Jamun and create a unique variation of it. Be [...]
Namaste Aunty,
till now i have tried your recipes for jalebi, khasta kachori, mathri, pedas and gulab jamun and and without an exception all of them have been extremely successful. I was so surprised to know that its so easy to make all these things at home. Thanks to you, we had a Diwali quite like India here in Netherlands. Thank you so much one again.
regards,
Janhavi
Hi Manjula MAsi,
I tried ur Peda, Gulab Jamun, Ras Malai and Bundi Laddo for Diwali sweets…and they all were awesome..
My Husband and son liked all of them toooo much… Thanks for your wonderful recipes with precise measurements….Thanks and Wish u a Happy Diwali.
Namaste Auntyji,
I tried your gulab jamuns – exactly as you mentioned and they turned out awesome! My husband loves gulab jamuns but I had never made them. THese were so simple to make that I can make this very often now
Thank you for the video, precise steps, notes and a wonderful recipe
Happy Diwali!
-Purvi
hello!mam,
i just want to know can we put desi ghee instead of butter
Hello Mam,
I tried making the gulab jamun, but as soon as I put the balls in oil, they disintegrate… literally… not just break or crack, but disappear in the oil in a few seconds and become powder… i still have some dough left.. can I do something to make it work.
I have already tried adding some more maida and ghee.. but didnt work. What could be the reason… I did use milk powder that is around 7-8 months old.
Thanks in advance.
Hello Anita, I think you added too much baking soda.
hi,
i read ur complain first thing u have to notice the recipe correctly and if u r minlk powder is not expired so its good u have make the gulab jamun dough soft then it will not become powder and notice dont put expired items
thank u
Aunty,
I am trying your recipe for first time. I tried your Peda recipe and they turned out awesome. Thank you. I was also looking for Surti Undhiyu recipe. All of your recipes tured out so great, I wanted to ask you if you have a good Surti Undhiyu recipe.
Thanks