Gulab Jamun recipe. Learn how to make soft melt in mouth Gulab Jamuns with tips and tricks

Gulab Jamun ahh.. !! Ask any Indian about their favourite desert, Gulab Jamun are surely one of the main ones!

At every Indian party or celebration and in restaurants one sweet treat that is always served are Gulab Jamun.

Now we get Gulab Jamun in stores too in tinned packages, but nothing is close to having fresh Gulab Jamun from the local Halwai shop(snacks and traditional mithai shops in India) or the ones made at home!!

Here I am with an easy recipe using milk powder/milk mawa, that you can prepare within 30 minutes from start to finish!!

Today is the auspicious occasion of Dusherra and I made these sweet treats for the occasion!! To know more about Dusherra click here..

Sometimes we miss all the fun of traditional festivals here, far away from home.. but then I always try to make something traditional for family and we celebrate the festivals in our own little ways!!

Dusherra Special

On my facebook group Foodie Monday Bloghop, all the members are dishing up their favourite or Dusherra special treats!! #VijayDashamiSpecial. Dusherra is also known as Vijay Dashami!!

In our families(me and my hubby's side) we have this tradition of having Jalebis with milk or Rabri. In morning my dad always got Jalebi from market and after pooja, we used to have it with mom's homemade rabri or in hot milk!! I also remember my gradmom(dadi) sometimes made Atte ke Pue for Dusherra Pooja!! Lunch used to be of simple steamed rice with dhuli Urad dal(Split and skinned black gram lentil) with buttermilk and some dry veggie.

Since I already have Crispy Jalebi and Atte Ke Pue recipe on the blog so I decided to link these sweet syrupy Gulab Jamuns for Dusherra Special . Kids too were thrilled to have Gulab Jamuns after they came back from school!

What are Gulab Jamun

Gulab Jamun are deep fried sweet balls made of milk solids, dipped in sugar syrup.

At my place Gulab Jamun are one of the favourite festival treats after the simple and humble Sooji Ka Halwa and Chawal Ki Kheer(Rice Pudding). Kids, hubby love Gulab Jamun and more than them it is me who adores these sweet treats dipped in sugar syrup.

My favourite Indian Mithai since I was a toddler, that's my mom recalls!! Whenever she made these or my dad used to get it from market, mom always had to find some safe place hiding from me especially when guests were coming over!! so that she could save it from me for guests dad and my little sis 😉 !!

Till date I love gorging on Gulab Jamun but now no one has to hide these from me !! Now I eat these sensibly, due to lot of sugar in it. I always make these on festival and love treating to my family and friends!!

How to make Gulab Jamun

Preparing Gulab Jamun takes very less time but it is little tricky to get the right texture. But with few tips and tricks we can makes soft melt in mouth Gulab Jamuns at home too.

The whole process can be divided into three parts..

1. Making of Khoya Balls/Gulab Jamun balls,
2. Deep Frying the balls and
3. Making Sugar Syrup.

Making of Khoya Balls

Gulab Jamun are made out of khoya/mawa or evaporated milk solids. I don't like the store bought khoya that is available here at Indian stores, so either I make my own or use milk powder/milk mawa to make Indian Khoya based desserts.

Milk Mawa Powder is a kind of evaporated milk that we get at Indian Grocery stores. Milk powder(evaporated milk) is available at other regular stores like(Walmart) can also be used as substitute for Khoya. I have used milk powder/milk mawa fro preparing Mathura Ke Pede, Kalakand recipes and many other sweet Indian desserts, as a substitute for Khoya.

To make homemade Khoya you can check out this recipe link, where I have explained easy way out to make khoya especially for those living out of India.

Coming back to Gulab Jamun I used milk mawa in the recipe but you can use milk powder.

Gulab jamun are deep fried, we need some binding agent also so that the balls don't break while frying. I use all-purpose flour or semolina for that. I have used all-purpose flour here.

Other ingredients are baking powder(makes it soft and puffs up khoya balls, desi ghee for binding and milk to knead the dough.

Steps to make Khoya balls

Mix milk powder/milk mawa with semolina(sooji) /all-purpose flour(maida), baking powder and milk it nicely.

Add ghee ad mix nicely with hands. Rub it in milk powder mix with fingers.

Add lukewarm paneer whey/milk and very gently knead the dough. It should be soft and not crumbly.Do not knead the dough very tightly, be gentle on dough while kneading!! Jamuns will break while frying.

Make small balls (lemon sized), the balls expand so keep the size keeping it in mind. Keep the balls covered with a cloth.

Frying Gulab Jamun Balls

Fry Gulab Jamun balls on low heat. The oil should not be very hot, to check drop a tiny ball of dough in oil it should rise slowly to surface. Keep the heat to medium first then lower it once you are about to add gulab jamun.

Drop one jamun to check whether the dough is good enough, fry it on low flame, if it doesn't break, add another batch.

Drop 3-4 balls at a time if you are making it for the first time.

Keep the flame low while frying, else balls will remain uncooked from inside.

Fry balls till light brown. We like little more deep fried gulab jamun balls.

Making Sugar Syrup

For sugar syrup, we need castor/granulated sugar, water, saffron strands(optional), cardamom pods or powder and rose essence.

Gulab Jamuns when dipped in sugar syrup, increase in size so take a big vessel as per the quantity .

In a deep and big pan/kadhai add 3 cups water and 2 cups of sugar. Add saffron strands, cardamom powder or pods.Also add rose essence. I did not have it so I skipped it.

Boil the solution for 7-8 minutes till it becomes sticky. Don't cook it more, we don't want any string in sugar solution.

Drop gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup when it is warm. Do not drop balls when it is too hot or too cold. Gulab Jamuns can break when the syrup is too hot and will not soak syrup when too cold.

Leave Gulab Jamun in the pan covered for 2-3 hrs, till they puff up and soak syrup.

Refrigerate for storing and serve chilled or warm .

How to serve Gulab Jamun

Chilled or warm, each one has there own preference of having Gulab Jamun.

To warm, gulab Jamun, microwave in a microwave safe bowl for 10-20 seconds, serve with rabri or vanilla ice-cream.

Do try and make these melt in mouth Gulab Jamuns for your special occasions. Hope this post will help you to make this traditional sweet as you get it in your favorite shop. You can always come back in case of any doubts or queries.

Also I will be happy to see your feedback whenever you make these.

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