There a very few people who don’t like Gulab Jamun, as for us, we just love them. It is a perfect dessert for any occasion – wedding, birthday party, potluck or a romantic dinner for 2! An unbelievable combination is hot, hot Gulab Jamuns with cold, cold Ice Cream…yum…just thinking about it makes our mouth water. Gotta go now, have Gulab Jamuns to make!
Ingredients:
Instant Dry Milk (Milk Powder) – 1/2 cup
All Purpose Flour – 2 tbsp
Yogurt – 2 tbsp
Clarified Butter – 1 tbsp
Baking Soda – 1/4 tsp
Water – 2 cups
Sugar – 2 cups
Rose Essence – few drops, optional
Cardamom Powder – 1/2 tsp or to taste
Saffron – few strands, optional
Oil – for deep frying
Method:
1. Make the syrup in a pan by adding Water, Sugar, Rose Syrup, Cardamom Powder and Saffron.
2. Put the pot on the flame and bring to boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat and allow it to simmer.
3. Meanwhile, get the oil for deep-frying ready. Heat up the oil on low-to-medium heat.
4. For the dumpling, in a mixing bowl , add in all dry ingredients i.e Instant Dry Milk , All Purpose Flour, Baking Soda.
5. Mix well and add in the Clarified Butter and after that slowly start mixing in the yogurt. Make into a dough.
6. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Make desired size balls, make sure they are smooth and do not have any creases.
7. Test the oil by dropping a small piece of dough, if it sits at the bottom of the pan for a minute before coming to the surface, the oil is ready.
8. Carefully drop 3-4 dumplings in the oil and keep rotating them for an even color.
9. Once the dumplings are a dark golden brown, take them out into a paper towel.
10. Bring the syrup to another quick boil and drop in the dumplings.
11. Turn off the flame and cover the Gulab Jamuns and let them soak in the syrup for 45 minutes to an hour.
12. Gulab jamuns can be served hot or cold. This recipe makes about 10-15 Gulab Jamuns.
Tips:
1. The one thing we cannot emphasis enough is the temperature of the oil for frying…it is the key to making good gulab jamuns. It has to be on low-to-medium heat.
2. The dough is a little on the crumbly side…so use a little oil on your hands and make the ball and flatten it out and then roll it to a ball…this will help smoothening out the cracks.
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
Can I use Non fat milk powder for this recipe?
Hi, Anuja & Hetal . how long we can use this jamoon.(good to use). thanks.
Hi, Could you suggest what can be used in place of milk powder?
hi i tried the gulab jamuns again today and guess what? they turned out absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!! they were soft in the center and you could actually cut it with a spoon! i think i was cooking the jamuns too much because this time i did not fry for as along. the problem was with me. thank u for this amazing recipe……now everyone will rush to the dinner table to gobble up these delicious jamuns!
keep up the good work!
oh by the way, i love your blog name. it’s really cute and i think it is the perfect name for an indian cuisine blog!
Thanks so much for the feedback Pacman! Glad you enjoyed them!
the dough was soft and i was able to make the balls easily and the oil was on low heat. approximately how long should each batch be fried? i think the reason for the hard jamuns might be that i fried them too long?
i did use baking powder
hey anuja and hetal. remeber me? my jamuns had turned out hard and u had suggested that i fry the jamuns on low fire. i tried that and they were still hard. the taste was good but it wasnt that soft gulab jaamun i was expecting. hope to hear from u
Hi Pacman,
Did you use Baking Soda or Baking Powder? The recipe calls for Baking Soda but if you used Baking Powder (and that is all you have at home) then you need to use more than the amount indicated in the recipe.
Other than that, I do not see why the Gulab Jamuns would not come out soft…
Hi, any idea what to do with the leftover Syrup? Do u have any recipe for it? As in can I use it to make any other dish?
I’m trying this for the first time today! This is the forst indian dessert im trying. The jamuns are sitting in the syrup right now, and I’m interested in tasting them and seeing if they turned out right. Eek!
hope they turn out well!!!
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
Thank you for this great easy recipe. I have been following SMTC for a few years. I tried this gulab jamun recipe recently and it turned out pretty well for the first time, although some of the balls looked like punctured soccer balls as soon as I dropped them in the syrup(hope you get the picture, they never disintegrated). This happened with only some balls. All the balls were made from the same batch of dough. I used the same brand of milk powder that you did. The balls were cooked perfectly, but some were a little chewy. Can you think of any reason why some balls were like punctured soccer balls and a little chewy and not spongy.
Another question, have you tried using food processor to grate jaggery. I have mine as cubes and figured grated jaggery would be easier to measure. I don’t want to try unless I know it would not damage my blades. So thought I will check with you, just in case you have done this before. If we can, would you use the shredder attachment or the steel blade?
Thanks,
Lavanya
Hi Anuja and Hetal,
can you please tell me if it is true that the fry temperature should be 180°? is this not too high?
Please answer me. Thank´s
Sorry i mean 180°C
hello to you 2! first of all you guys rock! love your show. I have a question regarding mava milk powder. I want to use it for either gulab jamun or penda but not sure how to go about..can you please tell me how to use it for jamuns and penda. thanx.
Hi Ria,
We have not use Mava milk powder. Is it a brand? We use the non-fat dry milk which is available here in the US.
thanks for your reply. well, its “DEEP” brand and I got this packet( 14oz) from the indian grocery store here in the US. I don’t know how to use it …what to make from it:(
ria.
Hi Ria,
If it is in powder form, you can probably use it just like the dry milk powder we use. I would try a small batch for the first time so as not to waste too much.
thanx.
Hi hetall,anuja
You both are wonderful! Love yr recipes.
I made gulb Jamuns yesterday.they were yummy but too soft and some were mushy .
Long beore I tried with mtr mix and they were good too,but too soft to break.
What makes the Jamuns toooo soft and they just tend to break if not handled with real care.? Whta’s wrong?
Hi Sonia,
Either the dough was too soft or the amount of baking soda was too much. If it was the first, you could reduce the heat and fry them longer to firm them up a bit.
I tries these today since I had leftover syrup and milk powder 🙂
They came out really nice. Thanks for the excellent recipe. .
have a question though. .
What is the purpose of adding curd?
Hi Rubi,
The acid in the yogurt (curd) activates the baking soda.
i made them…. absolutely wonderful and delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi I tried the gulab jamuns today…but they started cracking. What do you think went wrong? Thanks.
Hi again…the gulab jamuns also turned out a little hard on the outside after frying.
Is that supposed to happen or did I do something wrong? Please reply!!!
Pacman from USA.
Hi Pacman,
Sometimes, you have to adjust the liquid a tsp here or there to get the right consistency. When rolling the jamuns, be sure the dough is smooth and the jamun does not have any cracks to begin with. They must also be fried at a low temperature to give enough time for the entire thing to cook evenly.
Hi….i tried making wth d posible ingredients i had…i added a bit of vanilla essence to d dough while needng n full cream instead of yoghurt…it has cme gud…
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
what can i do with the leftover Syrup? Such as use it for Shahi Tukra?
How long stay Sugar Syrup good?
Thank´s for your answer
nice , when i tried it it turned out wonderfull
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
Thanks for this wonderful recipe! My Gulab jamus are so soft and yummy that I cannot stop eating them. I tried these with Nido milk powder(full cream) and just cream instead of yogurt. Wonderful!
– Ashley from Germany
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for the feedback and for mentioning your substitutions…it helps other viewers out.
Thanks for a quick reply Hetal. I will try them again. Cheers Kamna
Hi hetal and Anuja
I have tried making gulab jamun and the dumplings didn’t expand after keeping them in the sugar syrup for couple of hours. In regards to the oil for frying I followed the instructions according to the video. Please advise.
Will wait for your reply
Thanks kamna
Hi Kamna,
If the jamuns were fried properly, they will not have a hard center and be soft all the way through. If this is the case, then even though they don’t expand in size, they will have absorbed the syrup and will still taste great. If they are soft but still didn’t absorb the syrup, then the consistency of the syrup may be too thick.
Can I use coconut oil got frying the dumpling???
Hi Hilal,
Coconut Oil has a very distinct flavor and smell that may conflict with the flavor of this dessert. We have not tried using it for this recipe.
Hi,
Thank You so much for ur wonderful Milk powder Gulab Jamun
recipe. It came out very well.Before watching ur recipe, I have tried to make gulab jamun with milk powder it will turn to be a stone, sometimes it will break, today it came out perfect .It is a easy recipe.Thank U so much.
from
Arifa SaihuSadat
Can ENO be used instead of baking soda?
Hi Sheetal,
ENO has added citric acid in addition to baking soda. It could change the flavor of the jamuns.
thanks for delicious recipe.
we have eaten gulab jamun,but it taste was very very bad.I don’t like it.burfi s better than it.So when I will go Rewari I bought burfi and distribute among my friends.
Hi,
I tried this today and they were perfect! So soft and delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe – definitely a keeper!
I tried a different recipe on Friday and it was a complete disaster so I had to try a different recipe because my family really wanted them and this was perfect.
Thank you!!
Thanks for the feedback Hanaa!
I do consider all the concepts you have offered in your post.
They’re very convincing and can definitely work. Still, the posts are too brief for newbies. May you please lengthen them a little from next time? Thank you for the post.
We struggle to reach a balance with viewers of different cooking knowledge. Some want shorter videos, less talk…some love the explanations and tips we give. If you have a specific question or are unsure of something, we’d be happy to help you out.
hi anuja and hetal,
i tried your recipe today it turned out great…….:D thanks for this great recipe.
just one thing i want to add more, i used milk powder with high fat content the only difference was i used it slightly more in quantity keeping other ingredients as mentioned here and everything turned out fine..:):)
yogurt is optional in making gulab jamun .cz most of the times i’v made it using milk, of course they were yummy
please answer…not gonna be on much^^^
is the Yogurt optional like can we use milk or cream instead of it????
Hi Sky,
This recipe has baking soda in it so the yogurt is used to activate it.
Hi,
Is it possible to deep-fry the Gulab Jamuns?? If yes, which would be the best temperature (degrees Celsius)for deep frying ??
Greetings from Switzerland,
Dominic
Hi Dominic,
Yes, gulab jamuns are supposed to be deep fried. Unfortunately, we do not have the exact temperature of the oil. We can say this…it must be fried at a lower temperature so that the outside does not get too browned before the inside has a chance to cook.
Hi Anuja and Hetal,
I want to thank you so very much for the gulab jamun recipe and easy to follow instructions you have put together.
I made the recipe yesterday. It was my first time deep frying anything and the gulab jamun turned out beautiful and tasted amazing. The taste brought me back to my grandmother’s kitchen of my childhood. I am so grateful to both of you!
Just two things I would like to improve:
I followed your instructions precisely and heated the oil for a long slow heat up at low to medium “about 3” but whenever I droped the dumplings in they stuck to the bottom – I had to remove them with a spoon. Why do you think that happened?
Mine were golden brown, but not as dark as I’ve seen gulab jamun. Any tips on getting them darker? Or is it just a matter of leaving them in the oil longer?
Thanks again,
Amanda
Hi Hetal,
Thank you very much.
Hi Ladies,
Great website! I made gulab jamuns, it tasted very nice, but the only issue was they were too soft after absorbing all the sugar syrup. Are they suppose to be super soft or slightly tight. If i had to make a comparison, it will be like soaking a bread in hot water…that soggy…
Thank you
Hi Abigail,
Gulab jamuns should be cottony soft, but not to where it would feel uncomfortable to eat. Maybe you can fry them a little longer at a lower heat next time so that they have time to fully cook all the way through.
My gulab jamuns absorb syrup poorly even when left in it for hours. I use confectionery thermometer to maintain the temperature at around 130°C while frying them. I have also tried frying them at lower temperature but to no avail. Could you please give specific frying temperaterue that will get rid of this problem.
Hi GJ Lover,
Unfortunately, we do not have an exact temperature for the oil. One of the reasons the syrup may not absorb is that it may have cooked too long and become too sticky.
Hi Girls,
Thanks for having this wonderful website,so far i tried the Gulab Jamun it was superb.My husband enjoyed and i enjoyed it.
Thanks Again Guys.
Hi,
I tried making gulab jamun.initially the dough was sticky but after few minutes it ws very dry so to make crack free balls i added abt 1Tsp of milk.
once i put the balls in the sugar syrup they soaked it well but the outer cover ws so chewy tht i was not even able to cut it by a spoon….
what could have gone wrong?
omg! these came out so well…
my husband has actually started bragging about my cooking now 🙂 and i must say, i follow your site religiously – even for my everyday cooking. i found it so difficult to cook for the 1st yr after my marriage, but its been awesome ever since i discovered ur site.. love u guys!! u rock!
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
My little daughter made Gulab Jamun yesterday they were yummy!They tasted just like the ones that I usually buy from the mithai shops!She learned the amazing recipe from you thank you so much!They go sloppy what shall I do?The day she made them after a while we put them in the fridge in a covered container is that the right thing to do?They were nice after they came out of the syrup.
Hi A.Khan,
You can store gulab jamun in the fridge in a covered container. You would have to heat them up slightly in the microwave before serving. Sorry…I did not understand what you meant by “sloppy”.
Hi, i have tried ur several recipes they r very delicious 🙂 I thank to both of u! 🙂 keep it up. U guyz r doing a good job for people like me who dont knw how to cook. I thank u again!
Thanks Hanaa!
I am a student and i want to make gulab jamuns for my class to show the variety of sweets in India. though the problem is that i only have an hour to bake in front of the class. so do i have to soak the gulab jamuns the entire 45 minutes…
pls help
Hi Ravneet,
The soaking is what makes gulab jamuns so soft and moist on the inside. If you don’t do it, they will be dry on the inside. You may want to choose another Indian sweet.