Gulab Jamun | Indian Syrup Soaked Doughnuts are delicious light and moist deep fried balls that have been sitting in a sweet syrup gently scented with cardamom and saffron.
I have been wanting to make these for such a long time, ever since my first tasting, which oddly I can’t quite pin point. They really are like an Indian version of a doughnut and ideally with the same consistency, that being light almost fluffy. So with Mother’s Day on Sunday I was able to explore this amazing dessert.
Surprisingly they are a very quick dessert to make and have an added bonus of needing to be made ahead of time so the balls have time to soak up the syrup. So you can easily make these in the morning and then leave till serving time later in the day or night. All you need to do is lightly reheat them so the are slightly warm, this can be done (carefully) in the microwave, on the stove top or, ideally place in a low, warm oven during dinner.
A couple of things to point out with Galub Jamuns is that you do not want to overwork the dough, the more the dough is worked during the mixing process the greater the risk of gluten forming. This will produce a tough, dense ball that will have trouble soaking up the syrup. They are still edible but not ideal.
If you are wanting to make more balls than the 12 that this mixture makes (will serve 4 people with 3 balls each) then make a completely new batch of dough, don’t try to double the recipe as you run the risk of tough balls. I tried two different recipes, this one and then one, which was a bigger batch of dough and that batch was definitely not as light as this recipe.
The balls may appear small when you first roll them out but they will almost double in size, firstly from the cooking and then soaking up the syrup. Three balls works perfectly per person.
Try adding different flavours to the syrup; rose water is very popular, a couple of strips of peel from a citrus fruit will work beautifully, maybe a chai spice blend (great for Christmas).
INGREDIENTS
Syrup
1 cup white sugar
1.5 cups water
1 tsp white vinegar
4 green cardamom pods, cracked
2 big pinches of saffron threads
1 red chilli, sliced down the centre
Balls
1/2 cup whole milk powder
1 tbs plain flour
1/8 or a pinch baking soda
1 tbs ghee (use butter if without or quickly make up a batch with this recipe)
2 tbs milk
1 tbs yoghurt (may not be needed)
oil for deep frying
Serving
pistachios, finely chopped
pouring cream
METHOD
This amount makes about 12 balls
Double the amount of syrup if you choose but make seperate batches of dough if you need more.
Syrup
Place all the ingredients for the syrup into a largish saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring consistently. Reduce to a rolling simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the chilli and then set aside.
Balls
Fill a saucepan with about 5cm / 2inch of oil and bring the temperature to about 180°C / 355°F. Use a deep fryer if you have one.
In a bowl place the milk powder, plain flour and baking soda and stir well to combine.
Add the ghee and mix well.
Add the milk and then stir to combine. This step needs to be done quickly as you don’t want to work the dough and have gluten form. This will make the balls tough.
If you find it’s still a little dry then add half of the yoghurt till it comes together.
If it’s too sticky, leave it to rest for a couple of minutes and it should absorb some of the milk powder and dry up a bit.
With greased hands, roll about a teaspoon size dough into a smooth ball without any cracks. Use this one to test the temperature of the oil and to see if it holds together in the oil. If it starts to break open or cracks start to appear then you may need to add a little more yoghurt to the mixture.
Cook the ball till it’s well browned and floating at the top of the oil. Place the cooked ball into the syrup and swirl it around so it’s covered int the syrup.
Continue with the rest of the dough to make the balls and fry and then soak.
Leave to soak in the syrup for at least 2 hours before serving with the pistachios and cream.
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 4 green cardamom pods, cracked
- 2 big pinches of saffron threads
- 1 red chilli, sliced down the centre
- ½ cup whole milk powder
- 1 tbs plain flour
- ⅛ or a pinch baking soda
- 1 tbs ghee (use butter if without or quickly make up a batch with this recipe)
- 2 tbs milk
- 1 tbs yoghurt (may not be needed)
- oil for deep frying
- This amount makes about 12 balls
- Double the amount of syrup if you choose but make seperate batches of dough if you need more.
- Place all the ingredients for the syrup into a largish saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring consistently. Reduce to a rolling simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Fill a saucepan with about 5cm / 2inch of oil and bring the temperature to about 180°C / 355°F. Use a deep fryer if you have one.
- In a bowl place the milk powder, plain flour and baking soda and stir well to combine.
- Add the ghee and mix well.
- Add the milk and then stir to combine. This step needs to be done quickly as you don’t want to work the dough and have gluten form. This will make the balls tough.
- If you find it’s still a little dry then add half of the yoghurt till it comes together.
- If it’s too sticky, leave it to rest for a couple of minutes and it should absorb some of the milk powder and dry up a bit.
- With greased hands, roll about a teaspoon size dough into a smooth ball without any cracks. Use this one to test the temperature of the oil and to see if it holds together in the oil. If it starts to break open or cracks start to appear then you may need to add a little more yoghurt to the mixture.
- Cook the ball till it’s well browned and floating at the top of the oil. Place the cooked ball into the syrup and swirl it around so it’s covered int the syrup.
- Continue with the rest of the dough to make the balls and fry and then soak.
- Leave the balls to soak in the syrup for at least 2 hours.