Gulab jamun recipe

According to a popular story, Gulab jamun was invented by Bhim Chandra Nag when Lady Canning wife of then Governer Lord Charles Canning visited india in the late 1850s. In gulab jamun, gulab translates to rose flower and jamun to black berry. Thus you can define it as berry size balls dunked in rose flavoured syrup.

If you love gulab jamun recipe I am sure you would love the jalebi recipe as well.

       Step by step method for the recipe

1. Sugar syrup for gulab jamun

The consistency of sugar syrup for gulab jamun is light sticky without any string.  Take sugar and water in a

large pan and heat on slow flame. Stir continuously untill the sugar dissolves. You can add cardamom pods while cooking the sugar syrup.

Cook the sugar syrup till it become light thick and sticky without any string. If it become more sticky then add water and cook further. Remove the sugar syrup and keep aside to cool down. You can even add  rose water for flavour it.

The temperature of sugar syrup is important for a perfect gulab jamun recipe.  The idle temperature for sugar syrup should be very light hot. If the temperature is high hot then the resulting gulab jamun become odd shaped.  It is okay if the sugar syrup is cold while dipping the gulab jamun. We can heat them after sometime. There will be no issue with that.

2. Dough for gulab jamun

If using ready made gulab jamun mix like gits then follow the instructions given in the pack to make the dough. It is usually instructed to use milk with the mix powder to make the dough. Rest of the gulab jamun mix recipe is same as beliw after making the dough.

And for traditional gulab jamun recipe use khoya (mawa). The gulab jamuns we buy from shops are made by using khoya.

In this recipe I am making gulab jamun using khoya by traditional method from scratch. Khoya also known as mawa is a milk product made of either dried whole milk or thicken milk. Generally khoya are two types  sada mawa (plain mawa) and hariyali mawa.

Hariyali mawa is used to make gulab jamun or kala jamun and sada mawa is used to make gajar halwa or dudhi(lauki) halwa. Hariyali mawa (khoya) comes in solid form so we need to grate them nicely. In this recipe chena is used along with khoya. Chena makes gulab jamun soft melt in mouth and more tasty. You need to rub the chena nicely to make it smooth before mixing and making the dough. In place of chena you can use grated paneer. But chena yields one of the best gulab jamun. This is how you can make gulab jamun recipe with chena.

In a mixing bowl add grated khoya, chenna or grated paneer, maida, corn flour, baking powder and nutmeg powder. 

Now start  to knead them nicely to make a smooth dough without adding any water or milk. In place of nutmeg powder you can use cardamom powder but nutmeg powder gives more aromatic flavour to gulab jamun. Traditional halwai use nutmeg powder instead of cardamom powder to make gulab jamun. 

Cover the dough and rest for 10 minutes to set. After that divide the dough into equal small size parts. Roll them in between the palm of hands to make round shaped balls. 

Make sure there are no lines or cracks in the balls. So roll them evenly from all sides. Otherwise gulab jamun may break down while frying.

3. Frying gulab jamun

This is the most important step for a perfect gulab jamun recipe. Gulab jamuns are fried in a slow flame heat so that they get cooked properly from inside as well. If you cook them in high temperature then the resulting gulab jamun become uncooked from inside.

Heat ghee or oil in a large deep vessel pan in medium heat flame. When the ghee become hot lower the flame to low and wait for one minute.

Then drop one gulab jamun ball in the ghee. If the ball start to rise slowly without changing color then the temperature of ghee is right  to fry the gulab jamuns. Similarly if it come to rise quickly changing its color then don't add further any gulab jamun balls. Wait further till the oil become cool to right temperature.

Add them into the ghee and wait for 30  seconds then slowly start to stir them. This will help not to get burnt on lower side of the balls. 

The balls slowly start to float. Gently stir then continuously to evenly cooked from all sides.

Cook them on slow flame for around 8 - 10 minutes till golden brown and completely cooked.

You can check  by removing one gulab jamun ball and press with index finger. If it get pressed completely and bounced back then it is cooked completely from inside as well.

Remove and drain any excess oil from them.

 Dip into the sugar syrup.

4. Dipping into sugar syrup

This is the last step for gulab jamun and quite tricky one. The temperature of sugar syrup is very important for a perfect shaped gulab jamun. If you dip gulab jamun balls into hot sugar syrup then within minutes they become odd shaped. So the idle temperature for sugar syrup is very low. Even if it is cold you can dip the balls into the sugar syrup.  There will be no problem, you can get a good shaped fluffy gulab jamun. Because later you can heat the sugar syrup with gulab jamuns. So dip gulab jamun in a low temperature sugar syrup.

After dipping them into the syrup, give a nice stir so that the sugar syrup cover them from all sides. Keep for 2 - 3 hours or even overnight to absorb the syrup.

Before serving microwave them for 40 to 60 seconds or heat them  on stove top. Topped with nuts and pistachios and serve hot.

Why is gulab jamun hard

This may happen if more flour is used for the dough making. Secondly if the balls are fried in high flame heat and soaked in high temperature sugar syrup. The resulting gulab jamun become hard.

What should I do if my gulab jamun is hard

If already fried and soaked in sugar syrup then it is difficult but you can boil the gulab jamun with sugar syrup for some more time to make them little softer.  But you can follow some tips before to start. Like make a soft palpable dough, use baking powder, fry them in slow heat flame and soak them in low heat sugar syrup.

Why does gulab jamun dissolve while frying

This may occur due to low ratio of flour in the dough, cracks or lines on the dough balls and frying in very low hot oil.

Gulab jamun 

Gulab jamun is a popular traditional Indian dessert made from khoya by mixing with flour. Deep fried and soaked in a flavoured sugar syrup. You can make gulab jamun with milk powder and readymade mix powder like gits. 

Prep time        cooking time               serving

10 min             20 min                            35 - 40

Author             Mobasir hassan

Ingredients

• 250 gm  hariyali mawa ( khoya)
• 50 gm maida ( all purpose flour)
• 1 teaspoon corn flour
• 20 gm chenna ( paneer)
• 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon green cardamom powder or nutmeg powder
• Ghee or oil for deep frying
• Nuts for garnish

For sugar syrup

• 1 kg sugar
• 1 litre water
• 1/2 teaspoon rose water or cardamom powder

How to make the recipe

Making sugar syrup

1. Mix sugar and water in a deep vessel pan or other utensil and place under low flame heat.
2. Stir continuously till all the sugar dissolves.
3. Boil till the syrup become lightly sticky.
4. Remove and keep aside by mixing rose water or cardamom powder.
5. If the sugar syrup reaches to thick or 1 string consistency then mix little bit of water to adjust.