Gulab Jamun

5 from 8 votes

Indian deep-fried donut like sweetmeat, dipped in syrup and rolled in coconut

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: diwali recipe, gulab jamun, indian sweetmeat, sweetmeat

Servings:

For the syrup, add the sugar, water, elachie and rose essence to a saucepan and simmer on medium to low heat until it's slightly sticky and syrupy. Takes about 20-25 minutes to thicken. Reduce heat to the lowest setting and keep syrup warm
In a large dish, add the condensed milk, melted ghee (please ensure your ghee has been measured accurately, see note below), milk, nutmeg and elachie. Mix it well. Add the powdered milk and a little flour at a time until you form a soft dough, not too sticky and not too dry, you must be able to roll it into shape easily. You may require more or less flour. If the dough feels too sticky when bringing it together wash your hands and knead again. It will feel less sticky. You can also rub a little ghee on your hands when rolling the dough into shape
Heat oil on medium heat in a small saucepan. Divide dough into little balls and then roll in the palm of your hands to form an oval finger shape. Keep checking the temperature of your oil, if it gets too hot reduce the temperature or turn the heat off completely to allow it to cool down a little.
Fry the Gulab Jamuns in the oil, use a slotted spoon to drain all the oil before removing. Dip in the syrup for a few seconds and roll into the coconut
Place on parchment paper until it cools down and then store in an airtight container

Please use proper measuring utensils when following a recipe. A cup measures 250ml
You can add more rose essence if you prefer. I have noticed that some brands of rose essence is much more intense than others so depending on which one you use you can adjust the quantity
Please measure 2 tablespoons ghee after it's melted. Solid ghee will weigh more and your gulab jamun will crumble in the oil/ghee
If you want a stronger cardamom flavour you can add more cardamom to your syrup
The weather plays an important role in the amount of flour you require. I used an extra 1 tablespoon of flour. Sometimes I don't need the extra. Please adjust accordingly but do add a little at a time or you may end up with a dry dough
The dough dries fairly quickly so if you cannot work fast please cover it with a damp kitchen towel. Your dough should be a little sticky to the touch but as you work with it the dough becomes silky smooth
If you prefer your Gulab Jamuns soaked in the syrup please allow it to soak in the syrup for a few extra seconds. I remove mine fairly quickly as I prefer less syrup soaked in
The Gulab Jamun may seem a little hard when just fried but it does get softer