There is no festival complete without making fresh Gulab Jamun from scratch. The flavor and texture of the homemade Gulaab Jamun recipe are absolutely wonderful.
Divya Pramil of 'You Too Can Cook Indian Food' came up with a marvelous idea for learning new recipes. Indian states are divided into 2 categories, South and North, and each month, both teams choose a recipe for the other team to try.
This is a wonderful way for people to learn dishes that they have never made before. This month’s (November) challenge is posted by Pallavi of Cook-Eat-Burrrp. She is from the North team and she challenged bloggers from the South team to make Gulab Jamun.
Coming to the recipe, for me Gulab Jamun was always something that I made from the packet. Having never made it from scratch, this was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn.
The dish came out really well and I am very happy to have learned something new in the festive season.
Preparation time – 20 mins
Cooking time – 30 mins
Difficulty level – easy
Ingredients – makes around 20 small Gulab Jamun
For the Jamuns -
- Milk powder – 1 cup
- Full fat Milk – 6 tablespoon (you might need more or less depending on the dough)
- Melted butter – 2 tbsp
- Maida/APF – 2 tbsp
- Rava/semolina – 1 ½ tbsp
- Baking powder – ¼ tsp
- Oil – to deep fry
For the sugar syrup-
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Water – 1 cup
- Saffron – few threads (optional)
- Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
- Red food coloring –a pinch (optional)
Procedure to make Gulab Jamun –
- In a bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients mentioned under the jamuns.
- To this add the melted butter and mix well. Then add the milk slowly (1 tablespoon at a time) and knead to form smooth dough. Cover with a plastic wrap or kitchen cloth and leave it aside for about 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, add the sugar and water to a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for 10 mins. Then add the cardamom powder, food coloring, and the saffron threads. I left the syrup simmering until I was ready to dunk the fried jamuns in it.
- Grease your hands well and shape the dough into smooth balls. Make sure the balls are smooth and have no cracks in it. The secret of making a smooth ball is to apply pressure when shaping in between your palms. Keep aside covered with a cloth.
- Heat oil in a kadai and once heated add the shaped jamuns into the hot oil. The oil should not be smoking hot; otherwise, the jamuns would just cook on the outside and will remain raw inside. So make sure the oil is just the right heat and always keep the flame in low medium when frying.
- Once the jamuns are golden brown, drain them on a paper towel and then immediately add them to the simmering sugar syrup.
- Let the Gulaab Jamun soak for at least an hour and then serve either warm or at room temperature.
Expert Tips and FAQ's
- The dough should be very soft. Once when I made it the dough was too hard and crumbly which resulted in hard gulaab jamuns. Make sure the dough is a little bit on the softer side because once we leave it aside, it tends to harden up.
- Keep the sugar syrup hot when immersing the jamuns. This way the jamuns soak up the syrup well.
- You could garnish it with chopped nuts if you prefer. I like them clean and hence avoided any sort of garnish.
Similar Milk-Based Recipes
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Recipe
Gulab Jamun Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Milk powder
- 6 tablespoon Full fat Milk You might need more or less depending on the dough
- 2 tablespoon Melted butter
- 2 tablespoon Maida/APF
- 1 ½ tablespoon Rava/semolina
- ¼ teaspoon Baking powder
- Oil To deep fry
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Water
- Few Saffron Optional
- 1 teaspoon Cardamom powder
- a pinch Red food coloring Optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients mentioned under the jamuns.
- To this add the melted butter and mix well. Then add the milk slowly (1 tbsp. at a time) and knead to form smooth dough. Cover with a plastic wrap or kitchen cloth and leave it aside for about 20 mins.
- In the mean time, add the sugar and water in a sauce pan. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for 10 mins. Then add the cardamom powder, food coloring and the saffron threads. I left the syrup simmering until I was ready to dunk the fried jamuns in it.
- Grease your hands well and shape the dough into smooth balls. Make sure the balls are smooth and have no cracks in it. The secret of making a smooth ball is to apply pressure when shaping in between your palms. Keep aside covered with a cloth.
- Heat oil in a kadai and once heated add the shaped jamuns into the hot oil. The oil should not be smoking hot; otherwise the jamuns would just cook on the outside and will remain raw inside. So make sure the oil is just the right heat and always keep the flame in low medium when frying.
- Once the jamuns are golden brown, drain them on a paper towel and then immediately add it to the simmering sugar syrup.
- Let it soak for at least an hour and then serve either warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- The dough should be a very soft dough. Once when I made it the dough was too hard and crumbly that resulted in hard gulab jamuns. Make sure the dough is a little bit on the softer side because once we leave it aside, they tend to harden up.
- Keep the sugar syrup hot when immersing the jamuns. This way the jamuns soak up the syrup well.
- You could garnish it with chopped nuts if you prefer. I like the clean and hence avoided any sort of garnish.
Bhavna Bagri says
Delicious.. so soft and perfect gulab jamun...
FromMyRasoi
https://frommyrasoi.blogspot.com/
Tamilarasi Sasikumar says
Looks yum...so soft...love it...
Restaurants in kuwait says
Hello sandhya,
we like your way of implementing the process and explanation,keep it up..
Shylaashree says
Looks tempting sandhya. love to follow you
Healthy Recipes
Priya Satheesh says
wow.....Yummy yummy...So perfect n mouthwatering. Now I am gaining little confidence in trying this..Lovely!!! Happy to follow u:)
WeR SAHM says
Nice clicks and am craving for your gulab jamuns now... Please pass it on...
సిరి says
very temptin sandhya...new to your space..
Latest Recipe at SirsFood-Home Made Gulab Jamuns
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Amy says
wow!!delicious!!can I have one please? 🙂
Ashwin Seshadri says
Sandhya, Good job with the instructions..the pictures you have posted have really stirred up a craving for Gulab Jamuns in me.. I am not even a fan of sweets in the first place..
Chitra says
Nice recipe Sandhya!! Waiting for more sweets!!
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
did u use the non fat milk powder you get in US?
Sowmya
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My Cooking Journey says
Yes Sowmya, used the carnation non fat milk powder 🙂
Sandhya
Lakshmi says
looks delish!! my kids one and only fav. sweet.. never tried it from scratch.. this is tempting
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
very well done Sandhya!!! looks so perfect and yummy!!!
Sowmya
Ongoing Event - CWF - Whole Wheat Flour
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Sowmya !
Sandhya
Manjula Bharath says
yummmmm.... tempting 🙂 and tis is an awesome recipe 🙂
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Manjula 🙂
Sandhya
Sowmya D.S.L says
following through SNC.. happy to find your blog.. perfect and yummy gulab jamun.. very tempting and looking forward for your recipes more..
https://www.thetalesofmycooking.com/
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Sowmya 🙂 Good to know you too..
Sandhya
Divya Pramil says
Wow dear perfectly made Sandhya 🙂 Cheers it looks so soft and yum!!! Happy to see those cute gulab jamun balls 🙂 Superb work 🙂
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My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Divya 🙂 Happy to be a part of your event 🙂
Vijayalakshmi Dharmaraj says
wow wonderful jamun dear... just droolin here he he:-)
VIRUNTHU UNNA VAANGA
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Vijayalakshmi 🙂
Sandhya
DivyaGCP says
You have made it perfectly.. Very tempting.. Shall be trying this soon.. 🙂
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks a lot Divya 🙂 Do try it out. It is an awesome recipe 🙂
Sandhya
ambika says
looks perfect and very tempting sandya 🙂
Asiya Omar says
Wow! Perfect with step by step pictures.
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Asiya ! The parent site where i got the recipe from has also described it very nicely. very useful for first timers like me.
Sandhya
Suji says
Thank you, Sandhya!!! You rock!
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Suji! You are always very encouraging 🙂
Sandhya
preeti garg says
Awesome Recipe Thanks for linking with my event:)
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks preeti and my pleasure 🙂
Sandhya
Meena B says
hey u did it
now i hv to make it
somehow my dough goes too soft but let me try again
congrats and well done
adirasam-- a sweet
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Meena, my problem was the other way around. My dough was getting too hard. i think it is because of the cold weather here.
Sandhya