Gulab Jamun

Oh gulab jamun, sweet little cardamom-scented doughnut holes soaked in a sweet rose syrup. Yes. This is heaven. In my family, I have a kaki (aunt) who makes the most amazing gulab jamun. So fluffy and perfect – she makes it look easy! I remember going to her house once when I was little and she was frying up a batch for a family get together. I gathered up my little cousins and created a ninja plan to sneak and eat as many warm gulab jamuns as I could. They are seriously the best when they are nice and warm!  Sadly, my sticky hands were a dead giveaway and she found out I was the culprit behind all the gulab jamun heists. Sorry kaki, I just couldn’t help myself! 

Turns out I’m not the only desi kid who had trouble keeping their hands off gulab jamuns! A friend of mine, Sandhya Acharya, has written a children’s book called “Ten Gulab Jamuns” that follows the story of two little boys and their ability to resist a tray full of warm gulab jamuns! She recently started a Kickstarter to get the book funded for publishing. I think it’s great to show diversity in children’s books, especially for parents like me who want to introduce Indian culture to their kids! If you’d love the book – be sure to support her on Kickstarter!

Onto the recipe! After tons of testing, I think I have the easiest and best gulab jamun recipe I could conjure up. I used self-rising and Bisquick flour because they contain leavening ingredients which help make the gulab jamun fluffy. Don’t work the batter too much, otherwise, you’ll form lots of gluten and it’ll be hard and chewy. But if the gulab jamun do turn out a little hard, don’t worry, just pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before serving and they’ll be nice and soft again!

Also when rolling the dough into balls, make sure they are smooth with no cracks, otherwise the ball will crack or break apart in the fryer. Another trick I picked up was to make sure the syrup is super hot when you add the fried doughnuts into it! The first time I made it I put them in lukewarm syrup and they deflated and got all wrinkly. They tasted great, but looked weird.

Hopefully my failures will help you make the most perfect 10 little gulab jamuns!

Gulab Jamun

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• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 10 gulab jamun 1x

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Ingredients

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Sugar Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• one 3–4 inch cinnamon stick
• 4–5 cardamom pods
• 10–15 saffron threads
• 1 tsp rose water
• 1/2 tsp lime juice

Dough

• 1/2 cup dry milk powder
• 1 tbsp self- rising flour
• 1tbsp Bisquick
• pinch of cardamom powder
• pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp warm milk
• 1 tsp ghee

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Instructions

1. Heat oil to 300 F.

Sugar Syrup

1. Add water, sugar, cinnamon stick, cardamom seeds and saffron into a small saucepan. Heat on low heat until all the sugar has melted. Boil for 5 minutes. Add rose water and lime juice. Keep on low heat, slightly simmering.

Dough

1. In a small bowl, add milk powder, self-rising flour, Bisquick, cardamom powder and salt and mix well. Add warm milk and stir until well incorporated. It will be a wet sticky batter. Add in ghee and stir in. The batter should be sticky but should be easy to shape a ball.
2. Grease your hands with ghee and take a teaspoon-amount of dough and roll it into a ball, making sure there are no cracks! Set the dough balls onto a baking sheet and continue until all the dough is gone.
3. Drop dough into hot oil, it will look like the oil isn’t hot enough, but it is! Just give it some time. The dough will slowly rise up. Fry until golden brown (~6-8 minutes). Place the ball into a container. Use a fork to remove the cinnamon and cardamom pods from the sugar syrup. Pour all the hot syrup over the fried gulab jamun. Set aside to soak for 1-2 hours, preferably overnight. Top with chopped pistachios and almonds!

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes

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