Gulab jamun
The name joins gulab — rose with jamun, the dark purple fruit of the Java plum tree, which the dumplings resemble in colour. Two things decide whether they work: the dough must not be kneaded, since developed gluten makes them tough, and they are fried at a low temperature. Dropped into hot oil they brown within a minute while the centre stays raw and will not take up syrup.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Syrup 15 min
- Dough 10 min
- Resting 20 min
- Rolling the balls 15 min
- Frying 35 min
- Soaking 60 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneMake the syrup and keep it warm
Boil the sugar with the water and cardamom for 10 minutes, take it off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and rose water. Keep the syrup warm — unlike baklava, this sweet needs warm syrup, because the dumplings must absorb it rather than merely be coated.
Ingredients: 500 g sugar · 500 ml water · 6 pcs cardamom · 1 tbsp rose water · ½ pcs lemon
Gather the dough, do not knead it
Mix the milk powder with the flour and soda, add the melted butter and milk a little at a time and bring it together with your fingers, without kneading. The dough should be soft and slightly tacky. Kneading develops gluten and the dumplings come out rubbery.
Ingredients: 250 g milk powder · 60 g plain flour · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 40 g butter · 120 ml milk
Gathered with the fingers, never kneaded.Rest for 20 minutes
Cover and leave 20 minutes. The milk powder has to hydrate fully — dough used straight away gives balls that crack more easily when fried.
Ingredients: 250 g milk powder · 60 g plain flour · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 40 g butter · 120 ml milk
Roll perfectly smooth balls
Oil your hands and roll 40 balls of about 12 g (about 2.5 cm across), turning them at length until the surface is completely smooth. Any crack opens up in the oil and the ball may fall apart. This is the step worth not rushing.
Ingredients: 250 g milk powder · 60 g plain flour · ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 40 g butter · 120 ml milk
Completely smooth — any crack opens in the oil.Fry at a low temperature
Heat the oil in a wide pot to about 140 °C — a ball dropped in should sink and, after a moment, slowly rise, surrounded by tiny bubbles. Fry in batches of 10–12, each batch for 10 minutes, moving them gently throughout, until evenly deep brown. Frying takes about 35 minutes in total.
Ingredients: 800 ml oil · 40 g pistachios
The ball sinks and rises slowly — the oil is right.Move hot dumplings into warm syrup
Lift them out and put them straight into the warm syrup. They start swelling almost at once and grow noticeably. Cold syrup or cooled dumplings give a sweet where the syrup stays outside and the centre is dry.
Ingredients: 500 g sugar · 500 ml water · 6 pcs cardamom · 1 tbsp rose water · ½ pcs lemon
Steep an hour and serve warm
Leave them in the syrup for at least an hour, turning once. They should be spongy and soaked right through — cut open, the inside is uniformly moist. Serve warm, scattered with pistachio.
Ingredients: 800 ml oil · 40 g pistachios
Before you start
Test one ball first
Fry a single ball first. If it cracks, add a spoonful of milk to the dough and wait 5 minutes. If it dissolves in the oil, add a spoonful of flour. Five minutes that saves a batch of forty.
Khoya instead of milk powder
The original uses khoya, milk reduced to a thick solid. Milk powder is a handy shortcut: it gives a close result and saves the long reduction of milk.
They keep three days
In their syrup in the fridge gulab jamun are good for three days and more saturated with each one. Warm the whole dish gently before serving — cold they are dense, warm they regain their sponginess.
