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Gulab Jamun is an Indian sweet or dessert. In India, no party, birthdays, marriages, functions or festivals are complete without sweets, and Gulab Jamun for sure, tops the chart for being the favorite choice for any of these occasions. This gulab jamun recipe is an easy version of how they are traditionally made.
The Gulab Jamun recipe, that I am sharing with you in this blog, is made with semolina or suji/sooji. It is quite easy to prepare as compared to the traditional recipe in which gulab jamun is made with khoya, which is highly concentrated milk solids. Gulab jamuns are also made with milk powder and some even use paneer or cottage cheese in gulab jamun recipe.
What is Gulab Jamun?
Gulab Jamun are small deep fried balls made of khoya, which is concentrated milk solid, dipped in sweet sugar syrup, flavored with cardamom, rose water or kesar. They are soft centered and little crusty from outside. They are sold in a variety of versions. Some gulab jamun have crunchy nuts filling in the center. They are dark from outside, almost the black color. Those are called Kala Jaam. At some places you will find very small sized gulab jamuns or even oblong shaped ones.
You can have them, cold or hot, whichever way you like. They are generally served with ice-creams and sometimes with rabri also. It is quite common to find gulab jamuns covered with nuts and silver warak or leaf. They are an absolutely delightful dessert, to finish off your meal with!!
Suji Gulab Jamun
Now-a-days, many different versions of gulab jamun recipes are available. Traditionally made with khoya or milk powder, this dessert, like many other, has now gone into the category of being made with less fussy and easily available ingredients.
Bread gulab jamun or suji gulab jamun, are the easier versions of this dessert recipe. The laborious task of reducing the milk to get an authentic khoya and then kneading and shaping them from it, has paved way for using such ingredients like bread and suji, which are easy to work with and make delicious gulab jamun too.
For Suji gulab jamuns, you need only 2 main ingredients, and if you multi-task effectively then you only need 15- 20 min and this delicacy is ready to be devoured. One important thing to note here is, that in this recipe, we absolutely don’t need to add any baking soda or baking powder, which some people use in the traditional recipe, made with khoya, to make them light.
Some other interesting recipes :
- Besan ki barfi
- Jalebi Recipe
- Eggless brownie
- Sooji mawa gujiya/suji gujiya recipe
- Ice Cream Recipe, Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe
Important tips for perfect gulab jamun
Sugar syrup – Sugar syrup for gulab jamun, should just be sticky and not of any string consistency. Boil it for 4-5 min after the first boil, and its done.
Kneading – The dough needs to be kneaded nicely(not over done though) and made very smooth. It is so essential for making them light and without cracks.
Rolling – They can be rolled in round shape or oblong shape. They can be made big in size or small. Whatever be the shape, the surface of the gulab jamuns should be smooth. For me it works best, if I put a little pressure in rolling the balls, at first, and then smoothen them with light hands.
Frying – The oil should be hot but flame medium low. This is tricky, I know, but you get a hang of it, after making them for a few times.
You can check the temperature of oil by putting a small portion of dough in the oil before you start frying the gulab jamuns. The dough should immediately start frying but should not rise up in the oil instantly.
If the oil is too hot, they, will burn from outside while still raw from the center.
If the oil is less hot, then they will stick to the bottom or with each other, in both the cases they will just break open and get spoiled completely.
Suji – Semolina or suji that we need for this gulab jamun recipe, should be of fine quality. If you have coarse suji, then just grind it lightly once. But you must take note, that there should be no powder consistency in the suji.
Milk – Milk required in this gulab jamun recipe, should be full fat milk. That gives a good creamy texture to the gulab jamun.
Gulab Jamun Recipe Video
Ingredients
For sugar syrup
- sugar – 1.5 cup
- water – 1.5 cup
- cardamom – 2-3 (crushed)
For Gulab Jamun
- suji – 1/2 cup
- Milk – 1 cup
- Desi ghee – 1 tbsp
This recipe will yield 12 – 13 big pieces.
Method
1. Mix water and sugar in a deep bottom pan.
2. Heat them on high flame and add crushed cardamom. The sugar dissolves completely and the syrup starts boiling.
3. Once the syrup starts boiling, cover and cook it for 4-5 min. on medium high flame. Once done, keep aside.
4. Take a pan and melt ghee in it while greasing the pan completely.
5. Add milk to it and heat it. Do not let the milk boil.
6. Now keeping the flame medium, add the suji in the hot milk in small batches. Keep stirring, while adding the suji.
7. The suji will start soaking the milk. After just a few seconds, it will start getting collected and will leave the pan.
8. Switch off the pan, and transfer the suji mixture to a plate.
9. Let it cool, only to the point, where it is comfortable for you to touch and work with the suji dough. It is very important to note here, that if suji dough will cool down completely, you won’t be able to knead it properly. So you must start working on it, once it is warm.
10. Working your way quickly, knead a soft and smooth dough.
11. Take small portion of the gulab jamun dough and roll it into round , smooth balls. Make sure there are no cracks on them.
12. Heat the oil and bring the flame to medium low. Test the oil, as mentioned above.
13. Start putting the round gulab jamun balls in the oil, but not all at once. After putting one ball, just wait for few seconds before putting another one. This will ensure, that the first ball has formed a little of its outer crust and they will not stick to each other in the oil.
14. Fry them on medium low heat only, so that they are evenly fried till center. Fry them till they get a nice golden brown color from outside. Use the back of the spoon to turn them slowly.
15. Once fried, put them immediately into the sugar syrup, which should be hot.
16. Cover them and let them soak up the syrup undisturbed for atleast 20 – 25 min.
17. Enjoy them with ice- cream rabri or just as it is.
Hope you enjoy making this delicious Indian sweet. Do share your experiences, ask questions or any suggestions in the comment box below. You can also follow me on Facebook or Instagram, to get the food stories, “from my palate to yours”.
Looks super tempting 😋😋
Thanks Deeksha…this came out really well. I am sure you’ll like it. Do try.