Gulab Jamun
Gulab Jamun is a delicious Indian version of donuts immersed in warm sweet syrup. As India’s most popular dessert, gulab jamun is a staple in most parts of the country. Gulab jamuns are served for almost every celeberations. Gulab jamuns can be served warm or at room temperature. Gulab jamun is one of the desserts I make the more often, because this is an easy recipe to make and in my family everyone like them especially my grandkids.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 10 Gulab Jamuns
Ingredients
- 1 cup nonfat milk powder
- 1/4 cup All Purpose flour (plain flour, maida)
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup room temperature whole milk
- Pinch of baking soda
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 4 cardamom pods (ilachi) (coarsely ground)
- 1 Tbsp sliced almonds and pistachio
- Oil for deep-frying
Method
Syrup
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In a large pan, combine the water, sugar, and ground cardamom seeds and bring to a boil. Let the syrup boil for another minute to completely dissolve the sugar. Turn off the heat.
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Set the syrup aside.
Gulab Jamun
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In a bowl, mix the milk powder, flour and baking soda.
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Add the butter and mix well.
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Add milk to make soft dough. The dough will be sticky. The milk powder will absorb the extra milk.
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If the dough is dry, add more milk to make it soft. Let the dough sit for a few minutes.
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Grease your palms with butter and knead the dough.
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Divide the dough into about ten equal parts and roll them into round balls.
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Heat at least one inch of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. To test, place a small piece of dough into the oil; the oil should sizzle and the dough should take a minute to rise. If the dough rises faster, the oil is too hot; if oil does not sizzle, it is not hot enough.
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Place the gulab jamuns in the frying pan. Do not crowd them, as the gulab jamuns will expand to about double their original volume.
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Fry the gulab jamuns on medium heat for about seven minutes, rolling them around for even browning until dark brown.
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Let the gulab jamuns cool a few minutes before placing into the hot (not boiling) syrup.
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Let the gulab jamuns sit in the syrup for at least 20 minutes prior to serving.
Recipe Notes
Gulab jamuns can be kept at room temperature for about a week and up to one month when refrigerated. They can be frozen for months.
Tips
If the gulab jamuns are fried on high heat, they will be hard inside and not fully cooked.
Too much baking soda will make the gulab jamuns too soft or cause them to break when frying.
Don’t place the gulab jamuns in the syrup immediately after frying, or they will lose their shape and be chewy.
Serving suggestions
Gulab jamuns can be served warm or at room temperature. They can also be served with ice cream.
hello Manjula Aunt,
I have tried lot of your gluten free recipes, all are yummy and turned out perfect ! Can you please share the recipe of GLUTEN FREE Gulab Jamuns ?
Or just tell me which flour to be used instead of Maida?
Thanks
Parul
Parul I have been trying but no good result
Hi Manjula!
I was reading this person’s comment and mine did the
same way . Can you give me some tips on how
to avoid from breaking and how much oil is used for
frying?
Samina,
frying pan should have about one inch of oil. If dough is too dry or if use too much baking soda gulab jamuns can brake.
Hi, I made these last night, and they looked perfect on the outside. I let them soak in syrup all night, and tried one this morning. The outside is perfect, but the center hasn’t absorbed syrup at all and seems too dry. What did I do wrong? Did I add too much milk? Too little? I made the dough so it was a bit sticky but rolled into balls very easily.
Lalia,
Gulab jamun should be fried on low heat if oil is hot they will not cooked from inside and will stay dry.
When I made this recipe…it was a total flop. The gulab jamuns while frying started to break up. When I put them in the syrup …they became like very soggy. I think the porpotions for the butter and allpurpose flour are not correct.
Karen,
I think too much baking soda
Can you please tell in terms of tsp. how much is pinch of soda
In this post I like the tips and variation in making gulab jamun. Everyone should follow those tips for getting better and well shaped gulab jamun.
Hi manjula
I made the gulab jamun twice
Once when I prepared the jamuns and placed in warm syrup all the skin of the jamuns peeled off in the syrup and they looked too oily the syrup
Again I made them they turned out too hard and while I was beating the dough oil was oozing a lot out of the dough I had put 3 tbsp butter but don’t know why?
pls let me know where I went wrong
Thks
Lavi
nice
madam,
can we use desi ghee instead of makhan. & what qty we used here.
Sonia, you may use ghee just little less the butter.
Ps tell me how to make veg steam dumplingss.
Hi Manjula ji,
I love your recipes.. I recently tried rasgullas and they turned out very well. Thanks for the step by step instructions. I am looking for gluten free gulab jamun recipe.. Last time I tried making gluten free gulab jamun with paneer, khoya and using potato starch as binding.. They came out decent However I am looking for something even better. Let me know if you have any thoughts on this
Thanks
Sunita, sorry I have never tried making gulab jamun gluten free but I will like to know more
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
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.
itisam,
Sorry, I can not figure out what happened. I have never seen that.
she must b mixing it too much
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
Aisha,
May be oil was too hot
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.
faiza,
Gulab Jamuns should be fried over low heat, or the dough was dry if dough becomes dry it is ok to use little more milk to make soft dough.
I love ur recipes.plz keep on sending me latest recipes online.
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?
HI AUNTY HOW R U I HAVE TRIED THE GULABJAMUN. THEY WERE VERY TASTY BUT AFTER THREE DAYS SOME SMELL WERE COMING WHAT TODO NOW
Daljeet,
Sorry to hear, I have no idea why this should happen, I have Gulab Jamun sitting out for 2 weeks or more has never happened.
Hi Aunty,
I followed your receipe, but my gulab jamuns spreaded and outer layer of it separated while frying 🙁 Also, my syrup become hard when it was kept aside for few minutes… could you please suggest?? plzzz.
Hi aunty manjula… I made gulabjuman according to your recepie.
But as I put them in oil the gulabjuman started to split. I had to throw away .
Please tell me what I did wrong.
Ape ki Meena
Meena,
Did you put too much baking soda or the dough was too dry
Hello Aunty
Do you think we can steam this in pressure cooker like for rasagulla, to make it larger? just wondering…..
Manjula auntyyyy thank you so much for this easy recipe. I just made the golub jamuns following your recipe and they came out perfect. I just cant thank you enough for this.
hi aunty
my gulab jamun dough caem so soft so what shiuld i do to make it little harder becoz as i was putting in oil it is spreading it can u plz suggest me?
Rachna, Add a spoon of all-purpose flour, but as dough sits will dry
This Dewali i made your recipe……….it turn up sooooo nice. thankyou thankyou. LOL
I made this as per the measurements mentioned..And made exactly 20 yummy gulab jamuns..Thanks Manjula…Now no more buying the gulab jamun mix.
Hi aunty. I was wondering .. When you are frying the gulab jamuns , do you keep them on high, medium or low heat?
aunty – can i use mawa instead of milk powder? btw you are a wonderful cook !
I Tried making gulab jamub and posted in
http://www.mixandcook.com/recipe/3.
Please review
i tried making gulab jamuns ,tasted well but could u plz tell me why they broke up in chachni after some time.they didnt remain intact.why?
I can’t wait to try this recipe, I love gulab jamun! But can you substitute ghee for the unsalted butter?
i am a boy, and i cooked this…. (i am a proffesional chef, a bit young, but i am at a hotel.) ….. and my family liked it.
madam
baking soda & baking powder are same thing or different???
plz reply
Baking powder is a mixture of Baking soda, Cream of Tarter, Corn Starch. They are not the same thing and when baking, should not be confused with one another.
Hi Manjula,
We always watch your videos of veg.dishes and desserts. really appreciate on what you do. thank you.
Hi, Manjula.
I’ve tried several gulab jamun recipes and my family agrees that yours is the best. Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Colette
I am curious if I could make this with a replacement flour (like quinoa or sorghum), coconut oil (instead of vegetable/canola), and xylitol (instead of sugar). We don’t eat gluten or regular sugar much at all. I know the coconut oil would work because I use it all the time. What do you think about replacing the other items?
Hi madam,
I like your website so much.
I’ve tried rasagulla and so many items, and it came well.
But gulab-jamun gor so hard inside, can we correct it, or is there any recipe to do something with that harden gulabjamun.
Because i dont want to waste it.
Thank you.
With regards,
Priya.
Priya
You must have fried the jamuns on high heat but any way cut them in small pieces and serve them with chocolate sauce or with vanilla ice cream.
where i can get milk powder??
shital
Grocery store keep in baking area.
if i don’t put butter is it ok???
Nice, can we make this without using milk powder and replacing it with milk?
Nice recipes.Need Baklawa recipe.
tastes awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Manjula aunty.I love all your recipes and have tried out many,which were a grand success.But when i tried gulab jamun,the syrup which i makes always becomes a flop.either it turns out too watery or it turns out being a too thick,sticky paste.
Could you please tell me what would be the reason?how to make the syrup-like at which flame(med,hi or low),for how many minutes exact and should the sugar be mixed with spoon as soon as added in the pan?or should it be allowed to dissolve while boiling?
It would be of great help if you replied to my mail,at the earliest.Hope to hear from you soon.Thank you aunty.
Bincy,
After syrup comes to boil, boil it for 1 more minute over medium heat.
hi aunti i always make gulabjamun from ur recipe they came really gud…but i have a question insted of butter can i use shortening plz reply me
DEEPTI
I will not advice that, use butter.
I use heavy cream instead of using butter and milk..two spoons of heavy cream are good to make dough from 1 cup milk power
Hi dear Manjula anty,
Thanks for your reply last time, I did try to make with Whole Milk Powder, it works, after few days, I got non-fat milk powder and then I made again, so I found out that the big different is the texture of Gulab Jamun, absolutely, the one I made with non-fat milk Powder is better, so here I have one more question is, I m very curious is in India how they sell Gulab Jamun, is by weight or pieces, and how much? Please reply~~~Thank you!!
Hi Manjula Ji,
The recipe turned out delicious but the jamuns were a bit hard from outside. Can u please tell me what mistake i made?
Thanks a lot
Hi Manjula Anty, Can I use Whole Milk Powder instead of nonfat Milk Powder? Pls reply~Thank you!
Bonbon
I have never tried
aunty can u give the measurements if I have to prepare gulab jamuns with Khoya
Dear manjula,
I read in your recipe you uses for instance ‘1 cup’ of ‘1/4 cup’, I would like to know how much mililiter or grams this is.
Thank you!
1 cup is 250g of dry measure or roughly 250mL of liquid (water). You should be able to find measuring cups that are already of these sizes 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup, etc.
Thank you William. Could you or Manjula also tell me how much grams a tablespoon and theaspoon is?
Hi,
I made gulab jamun yesterday…with just one variation,instead of using butter i used the same amount of ghee in them.
They turned out hard and were not even soaking the sugar syrup!
what could have gone wrong?
about the baking soda…a pinch would be around 1/8th tsp?
Vid, maybe the dough for the gulab jamun was too dry and needed more milk, which would have made it moist. Yes, the pinch would be that amount.
This recipe turned out perfect Gulab Jamuns!
I didn’t have the patience to make my own khuva, and so using milk powder made it much easier. They tasted delicious 🙂
This was the first time I have ever tried deep frying anything, and I was very happy with the results. easy recipe too
Will the syrup and jamun loose its taste if it is sealed in a plastic cover? Cuz, I have tried it and I had seen they become bitter. Can you suggest how to avoid this?
what brand of powder milk u chose to use for this recepie?
rabia
I use local brand from Vons grocery store.
Hi Aunty
You are saying 10 in the video but written recipe says 20.
Rekha
I managed to make 17 of them from this recipe, rolled into one inch balls. they doubled in size for me
I made about 16 and they grew in size to roughly 1 inch diameter.
Hi manjula Aunty. I really love all your recipies. I recently tried out this Gulab Jamun one and they turned out very well except they were just a little bit dry from the inside. I let them soak in the syrup for nearly an hour but they were still very dry.
Can you please tell me what I could have done wrong?
Hello Manjula, I am very happy that you show the secrets of indian food so well. I could prepare the gulabs jamuns hier in Germany (I am brazilian) and it are very tasty. Thanks a lot for your receipt. Namaste.
hi manjula aunty, i i am a small cook from south side who loves to try different types of recipes.i made gulab jamuns but the jamuns turned to be hard…but i dont understand what went wrong can u please tell me.was it too much of baking soda or butter?I’d really be thankful to u..thanks aloot for ur delicious mouthwatering recipes.
Mehroofa,
I think when you fried them oil must be very hot, need to fry them on low heat.
thanks for your awesome easy and delicious recipes. You make things so easier.
Hi aunty! I’m a south Indian and have just started trying recipes on my own. THANK YOU so much for ur gulab jamun recipe. They turned out PERFECT the first time i made them and everyone loved them. But the next 2 times i made them,they were a disaster. The texture of the dough was sticky like in my first try but when i put them in the oil,they stayed intact but started peeling off on the surface. Despite this i went ahead n put them in the syrup after they cooled and they became soggy n lost their shape pretty fast. The first time i made them,they had stayed perfectly in shape no matter how long they were in the syrup. Could this happen if i use too much butter? Or maybe bcoz i used a different round bottomed wok for frying instead of the flat bottomed pan I used the first time? Does that really matter?? Any idea on what i did wrong? I’d really appreciate ur help!! THANKS SO MUCH again for the videos n ur wonderful recipes!!
Tina,
It can be too much butter or too much baking soda.
Ohh ok…Thank you so much for your quick reply!
Hi Manjula,
I have a question. Can use the same sugar-syrup as I use for making Jalebis?
So I can make both, Gulab Jamun and Jalebis, at the same time.
Greetings, Dominic
Dominic,
Yes you can.
Namaste Aunty !
I made this Gulab jamumn today and it was wonderful..got lot of compliments too..tasted just like restaurants..:) Thanks a tone ! u made my day !
Thank you for all recipes. I’m brazilian but i love India and all indian recipes. I was born in a city in Brazil where some Indians live and since I spent little to admire and want to have those same customs as being born in Brazil I’ve felt like I was part of India can not explain then only did I follow the customs and here in Brazil but alive like India. In Brazil is still a little hard to find the ingredients of Indian recipes, but your site has helped me to prepare all those recipes you taught us. Thank you.
hi manjula aunty ji, i hope you are fine. thank you for all of your awsome recipes, i have succeeded in impressing my mum-in-law all because of you. so BIG thanks for that. i have one question, aunty ji. could i use semi skimmed milk powder instead of non fat to make gulab jamuns? it is for rakhi tomorrow. i dont have time to go to big market but they sell semi skimmed milk powder in small market close to my home???
aunty can we use ghee instead of butter
Divya,
If you are using ghee don’t melt the ghee and use little less then butter, I have never used so I can’t give you exect amount.
Hello Manjula aunty,
Im planing to make this and was thinking if I can use the Regular milk powder that I already had or should I get a non-fat milk powder? Also, can I just use a pinch of Ground cardamom (powder form) or I should use cardamom seed as specified in the recipe?
Thank you!
Seems like Manjula aunty is too busy to respond…Is there anyone out there that could help? I am desperate to know so I could make it as soon as possible..thanks!!
JY
I have never used used regular milk I am late in replying I visited the groceryn store but I did not find regular milk powder. may be you can try a small batch and see how it works and let us know. I think use little bit less butter.
I found it one of the best website for indian dishes..
I made this but I think I may have used too much baking soda. Do you have an exact measurement?
I wanna make these I’m just not sure about the oil.. how much do I have to pour in? about 2 cups?
Can someone specify the correct measurements of the ingredients please. Manjulaji please specify.thanks
Swa, which ingredient measurements are not clear?
Actually I wanted the peda measurements not gulag jamun
Thankssssss alotttttt…. i made it today for the first time in my life and used ur recipe and it turn out awsomeee <3…… thanks alot
I am going to try this recipe in my home this week.. thanks for your good suggestions of preparation…
Thank you very much for sharing this fantastic recipe. The jamuns turn out great, time after time! Can’t thank you enough.
Dear mam,
Today i made jamoons as per your measurements ( first time i made with milk powder). Wow really iam very happy to see ( taste) jamoons my hubby never likes sweets( today he ate 5 jamoons.), It is very soft like new born baby cheeks. I never get like this jamoons even i made by readymade mix.
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
Sakthi.
Dear Manjula Aunty,
I have been using my home made khoya. The Gulab Jamuns turn out good but I would like to get the right measurement for it. If you could please let me know. Thank you for your generosity in sharing all your good recipes. with respect Monu
aunty pls give me ballushahi receipe
hi aunty i tried gulab juman,but its always break i don,t why pls tell me
I tried this recipe 3 times and every time I fried the jamuns they were breaking up and dispersing in the oil. I changed the amount of baking soda each time, I also bought a new box of baking soda, and I also made sure the oil was at good temperature.
The brand of milk powder I used is Nestle, Everyday Tea Whitener. The ingredients are: milk, soy lecitin and sugar.
What brand did you use? Do you know what could be going wrong here?
Heena,
I don’t think you are using true milk powder from an Indian grocery – I don’t have the ingredients right in front of me right now that lists what milk powder contains but it sounds like you are using a milk substitute / coffee or tea creamer instead. Milk powder should be just dried non fat milk and nothing else. I’m not sure where you are from or live but it sounds like you are using something like or something similar to what we have here in the States called “Coffee Mate” and I don’t think that’s what Manjula Ji means when she says MILK POWDER.
Heena, I also agree with Lianne that you are using the wrong item. Milk powder is de-hydrated milk, nothing more. What you’re using is for coffee and tea.
If you’re in the US, go to an American grocery store in the baking section and look for Carnation brand milk powder. If in doubt, check with one of the store clerks that it’s milk powder and NOT a coffee/tea creamer.
Good luck.
I’m confused. I think I’ve made a mistake. We’re not supposed to add ALL 1/4 cup of milk at once? I did that and its SUPER sticky! :s
I have tried this recipe and it turned out great!! Honestly, take her tips seriously though. It makes the world of difference.
Bhabhi,
I tried the Gulab jamun very tasty but the middle part is hard and tastes like dry flour any comments please let me know.
Mazee,
May be the dough was too dry add few more spoons of milk. Dough should be soft and then fry on low heat.
Hello Aunty,
Can I use 1% milk instead of whole milk for preparing dough??
Anu – I used 1% milk and they turned out just fine.
I watched your video three times and read through the recipe twice. I was making these to serve to guests so I was afraid of ruining everything.
I LOVE this recipe! By watching your video I was able to make these up just right the first time. I did, however, burn about 5 of them because my oil was too high, but that was easily remedied. I even tripled the batch and it still worked out just fine.
Alanis – I went with the recipe for the syrup Aunty used in the video (1c. water with 1 1/4c. sugar).
Everything turned out lovely and my guests devoured them (as did my Indian husband). Thank you so much!!
hi manjula aunty!
i tried 30 times gulab jamun recipes but very disappointed so finally i tried urs many many times but sometime they become hard from outside sometime from inside, i dont know where i go wrong. could u plz guide me
thanks
Aisha,
Gulab jamuns are fried on low heat if they are fried on high heat gulab jamuns will be hard, or may be you needed to add little bigger pinch of baking soda, or dough was very dry so you needed to add little more milk.
Hello Aunty,
I just loved your reciepe will try it today.
I never heard gulab jamun by milk powder as my mom always made it by using Khoya(Mawa) can you suggest by using this also..
Thank you….you are doing really great work
Smita,
In US we can not find khoya so here we use milk powder, this will never taste as made with khoya. I have never made gulab jamuns using khoya.
dear manjula aunty,
gulab jamuns have come out very nice,soft ,& tasty. thank you
hi manjula anty.
today first time i view your site.really i like it specially sweets receipes.today i try your gulab jaman but i dont know why they are little powdery form,and not soft from inside..pls can you guide me,where i make mistake…
also today i try namak para/papri….really superb receipe.my 5 years daughter love it…..thank you…..
Saira,
May be dough was too dry, dough should be soft may be you have to use little more milk to dough then I recommended it happens.
Nemaste Munjila jii. I need som help from you. yesterday i tried to made gulab juman. Every things was perfect, but when i wanted to fry the rolls. The balls breaked and become like helwa. Could you please tell me what i did wrong. Nmashkar
Sara,
I think you put too much baking soda.
Thanks for sharing your recipes. I want to try this out, except I am a bit confused about the syrup quantities. In your video, you use 1 1/4 c sugar and 1 cup water, but the listed recipe says 1 3/4 c sugar and 1 1/2 cup water. Which is the preferred amount?
hi manjula, i hope u can answer my question so i can try out this recipe. thanks!
Alanis,
I missed your question please ask again.