Gulab Jamun Recipe
Gulab Jamun is a popular Indian dessert. I have used khoya or thickened milk to make it in this recipe, giving it a rich and indulgent taste and flavour. This is a perfect and easy sweet to make for Diwali or any gathering
Ingredients
For the jamun:
- 1 cup grated khoya or mawa
- 1/3 cup plain flour or maida
- ~ 1/2 cup water
- A big pinch of salt
- Oil or ghee to deep fry
For the Sugar Syrup:
- 2.5 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 3-4 pods of cardamom crushed
- 2 drops of rose water optional, although the name of this sweet has “rose / gulab” in it
- A few strands of saffron optional
Instructions
- 1. Grate the khoya. Mix this with the plain flour and salt.
- Note that if you are using store-bought khoya, this mixture will be quite dry. If using fresh, homemade khoya, it will be moist so you need less water for the next step.
- 2. Add sufficient water (I used around 1/2 cup) and form a stiff dough. It shouldn’t be sticky. If it is, add a bit more flour and incorporate without kneading too much.
- 3. Make into small marble-sized balls. Remember to start small because the jamuns will expand on frying and further on soaking in the sugar syrup. You don’t need to make the balls super smooth, just into small circles of even sizes (see notes above)
- 4. Heat oil to just short of smoking point and add the dough balls one by one gently. Don’t overcrowd the dough balls, fry a few at a time. This also ensures that the oil temperature doesn’t drop too much while frying.
- 5. Fry all the jamun until golden brown on medium heat, remove with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
- 6. To make the sugar syrup, mix the water and sugar and set on a medium-low flame. Stir until the sugar has dissolved completely and the mixture comes to a slow boil. Add the crushed cardamom pods, saffron and rose water if using.
- 7. Let the sugar syrup cool for about 5 mins and then dunk in the fried gulab jamun.
- 8. Partially close the pan and let the jamun soak in the sugar syrup for atl east 3-4 hours before serving.
Notes
- Gulab jamun can be served warm or cold. If warm, it tastes excellent with vanilla ice-cream.
- If the centre of the jamun is hard, that usually indicates it's undercooked and didn't fry all the way through
- If the entire jamun feels hard and doesn't seem to be absorbing the syrup, this means the dough balls got over-fried or the dough didn't have enough moisture.
- I recommend frying a small. batch first to make sure the dough is all fine and the inside is cooking, before you proceed with the rest