Gulab Jamun

Gulab jamun is a popular Indian dessert made with milk powder. They are soft, deep-fried dough balls soaked in sugar syrup infused with rose water, cardamom, and saffron.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Indian Desserts, Indian Mithai

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 1

Total Time: 1 5

Servings: Gulab Jamuns

Calories: 138kcal

Author: Aayushi Patel

Ingredients

For Sugar Syrup

1 Cup Water
1 Cup Sugar
3-4 Green Cardamoms
5-6 Saffron Strands
1 Teaspoon Rose Syrup
1 Teaspoon Lime Juice

For the Dough Balls

1 Cup Milk Powder
4 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
2 Tablespoon Ghee Melted
¼ Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
Ghee + oil For Frying

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Instructions

Prepare the Sugar Syrup

In a saucepan, add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar. Add 5-6 strands of saffron, and 3-4 green cardamom pods.
Place the sauce pan on a low heat and keep stirring until the sugar dissolves completely.
Bring this sugar syrum until it starts to simmer, and then bring it to a boil.
Note* - You don't have to make a chasni like thick sugar syrup. Sugar syrup of gulab jamuns have to be thin so turn off the stove as soon as it starts to boil.
Turn off the flame. Now add 1 teaspoon each of rose water and lime juice. Mix it well.
Cover it and keep it aside.

Make the Dough for the Gulab Jamuns

Melt the ghee, and set it aside.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. You will need 1 cup of milk powder, 3 Tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour, and ½ teaspoon baking powder. Mix well.
To the dry ingridients add 2 tablespoons melted ghee. And mix it well with your fingers.
Also add ¼ cup of Full Fat milk + 2 Tablespoons heavy cream in a bowl. If you don't have heavy cream, use milk instead.
Add little milk and cream and start mixing the dough and combining it. It should form a soft sticky dough.
You don't want to knead the dough, as we don't want any gluten formation. All you need to make sure is the dough comes together.
Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Shape The Dough Balls

After resting the dough, make small sized dough balls. They should weigh about 15gms each. You should get about 18 Gulab Jamuns using this recipe.
I like to use 2-3 tablespoons of dough to make these dough balls.

Frying the Gulab Jamuns

Heat 2" of Ghee+Oil in a wok or kadai on medium-low heat.
Gently shape the dough into small, smooth balls. Make sure there are no cracks to avoid them breaking apart during frying.
Once the ghee+ oil is hot enough, fry the dough balls in ghee or oil over low-medium heat, ensuring they cook evenly from the inside out.
Don't crowd the pan, I fried them in batches of 4 doughballs at at time, as I am using a small pot.
You want to swirl the ghee/oil around with slotted spoon, while frying continuously as soon as you add the dough balls to the ghee.
Stirring the oil will cook these gulab jamuns evenly.
*Tip* Frying at a high temperature can cause the outer layer to brown quickly, while leaving the inside uncooked.
Once the gulab jamuns are golden brown, add them to the paper towel lined tray/plate.
Fry all the gulab jamuns similarly.

For Soaking the Gulab Jamuns in Sugar Syrup

Place the sugar syrup on the stove on low heat, to heat it up. Once the gulab jamuns are rested add them in warm syrup.
Don't bring it to a boil. When you see the sugar syrup starting to simmer. Turn off the stove.
Cover and let them sit in the sugar syrup for atleast 45 minutes. It is great if you can let them soak for 1-2 hours in the sugar syrup before serving.
Serve them warm or cold, however you prefer.

Notes

Wet Ingredients -Add wet ingredients little by little as needed. We don't want the dough to become mushy.

Too Much Baking Powder - Adding too much baking powder can make the gulab jamuns too soft and cause them to break while frying or soaking.

Skipping Kneading - Not kneading the dough properly can result in hard, dense gulab jamuns.

Thick Syrup - If the syrup is too thick, it will not be absorbed by the gulab jamuns, leaving them dry inside.

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