Gulab Jamun is the most popular Indian dessert. Gulab Jamun's are deep fried donut-like balls, soaked in sweet rose flavored syrup. They are so delicious and taste absolutely heavenly. Learn to make the best gulab jamun's with khoya along with all the tips and tricks to get them melt-in-the-mouth soft.

I grew up eating the most soft and fluffy gulab jams that my mom made. I was the kid in the house who loved sweets and had a hard time keeping my hands off these sweet balls of goodness. Every time I opened the refrigerator, I would pop one in my mouth. Shh...don't tell my daughter, else she will start doing this too.
After eating the gulab jamun's made by my mom, I could really never enjoy store-bought ones, as they were never as soft melt-in-the-mouth similar to how mom made. If you have tried the store brought one's, you will definitely see a difference when you trying making them yourself!
Enjoy these Gulab Jamun as is or combine with shrikhand to make these fusion Gulab Jamun Shrikhand bowls or with custard to make Gulab Jamun custard jars.
Don't forget to check out my other popular Indian desserts - Mawa Gujiya, Kheer, Carrot Halwa, Zarda Sweet Rice.
What is Gulab Jamun?
Gulab Jamun is a classic Indian dessert which is the star of many festive celebrations in India. These are milk-based fried donut balls, which are dunked in sweet sugar syrup to make them melt-in-the-mouth soft.
You might have enjoyed these at lunch buffets at Indian restaurants. They are there at any festival, party, birthday, you name it!
Gulab Jamun's can be made with khoya (mawa) or milk powder. Khoya is basically milk solids. We will make gulab jamun's with khoya, as they come out super soft. Khoya is easily available at many indian sweet stores or in the refrigerator/freezer section at indian grocery stores.
Making Gulab Jamun with ready mix: You can also get a ready mix such as Gits brand to make these. These ready mixes use the milk powder method. One tip I learnt from my mom to make the ones from the packet soft is to keep a mishri (crystallized sugar) or a raisin at the center when making the ball from the dough. This helps to keep them softer. I did not have to do this for the one's I have made below from scratch and they were still very soft.

What are the main ingredients to make Gulab Jamun?
You just need a few main ingredients to make these perfect gulab jamun's.
- Khoya (Mawa)
- All-purpose flour (Maida in hindi)
- Milk
- Ghee
- Cardamom pods and powder
- Baking powder
As you can see from the ingredients, these gulab jamun's are not vegan and they are not gluten free.
How to make Gulab Jamun?
There are 4 main steps top make Gulab Jamun:
- Making the dough
- Making the sugar syrup
- Making the balls
- Frying the balls and soaking in syrup.
Making the Gulab Jamun Dough
Let's start with gathering the ingredients for the dough. I used refrigerated mawa from the Indian grocery store. If you have fresh available, it is even better.

- In a large bowl, grate or crumble the khoya. Add all-purpose flour (maida), baking powder and cardamom powder to it. Mix it well.
- Now add ghee and mix again.
- Add milk little at a time, so the dough starts to form. You dont want the dough to be sticky. We just want enough milk for it to come together.
- Don't over mix the dough. You just want it to be smooth and soft.
- Cover with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for 30 mins.


Making sugar syrup for Gulab Jamun
While the dough is resting, let's make the sugar syrup.
- In a bowl, add sugar, water, cardamom pods and saffron.
- Bring to a boil. Then simmer for 7 minutes. Do not overcook the syrup, we only want a sticky consistency.
- Add lemon juice, rose water and stir well. By adding lemon juice, sugar syrup doesn’t form crystals.
- The sugar syrup thickens when as it cools, so it shouldn’t look too thick.
Making Gulab Jamun balls
While the syrup is boiling, let's make the balls for Gulab Jamun.
- Grease your palms with some ghee. With your hands, knead the whole dough once.
- Make small balls from the dough. Do not apply too much pressure while making the balls. When rolling to balls, make sure the balls are smooth with no cracks, else they might break when frying. If there are any cracks, knead again and make balls without cracks.
- The balls will increase in size after frying & soaking in syrup. So you can make small balls (also, helps with portion control). I made each ball of about half an ounce and got 15 balls from the dough.

Frying Gulab Jamun Balls
Here is the traditional way - Fry gulab jamun in ghee for the real deal! You can fry in oil to make them lighter, however I very much prefer the taste of ghee (yes, spoiled by mom!).
- Heat the ghee/oil well in a fry pan/wok before starting to fry the balls. Fry on medium-low heat.
- On high heat, they will get dark from the outside, but will not be cooked well from the inside.
- Add them to the syrup while the syrup is warm (not boiling hot), so they soak in all the sweetness and become soft. If syrup is too hot, the balls might break. If it is cold, then the balls will not soak the syrup well. Soak for at least 30 minutes before enjoying. Soaking for up to 2-3 hours works great too.

Serving Gulab Jamun
We love Gulab Jamun's served warm. Add 2-3 jamun's to a small bowl. Top with 1-2 spoons of syrup in the bowl. Garnish with sliced pistachios or almonds.
You can also serve warm Gulab Jamun with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. This is not the traditional way of serving, but sooo delicious!
If you are serving the next day, just keep some in a bowl and microwave for a few seconds before serving. For two gulab jams, microwave for just 10 seconds. We don't want them to burn your mouth.
You can refrigerate Gulab Jamun's for up to a week.
Common questions for making soft Gulab Jamuns
This can happen if:
1. Too much baking powder was added to the dough.
2. The dough balls had cracks and the dough was not soft. Knead dough again to make balls without cracks.
3. Oil was too hot when frying the gulab jamun.
This can happen if:
1. The dough is too stiff or if it is over-kneaded.
2. The dough was pressed too hard when making the balls. You want to use soft hands while making the balls.
3. The balls were fried on high heat, which can make them hard from outside and uncooked from inside.

Give these delicious melt-in-the-mouth Gulab Jamun's a try and do let me know how they turn out!
Check out the collection of 15+ Diwali Recipes for more sweet and snack ideas!

Gulab Jamun Recipe (with Khoya)
Ingredients
- 2 cups Khoya finely grated or crumbled, about 6oz
- ½ cup All-purpose flour (maida)
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder (Elaichi)
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- ⅓ cup Milk warm, add little at a time, use more if needed
- Ghee or Oil for frying
- 1 tablespoon Almonds or Pistachios sliced, to garnish
For Sugar syrup
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar white refined
- 3 cups Water
- 3 pods Green Cardamom (Elaichi)
- 1 pinch Saffron (Kesar)
- 1 teaspoon Rose Water
- 1 teaspoon Lime juice
Instructions
Making the dough
- In a large bowl, grate or crumble the khoya. Add all-purpose flour (maida), baking powder and cardamom powder to it. Mix it well.
- Now add ghee and mix again. Add milk little at a time, so the dough starts to form. You don't want the dough to be sticky. We just want enough milk for it to come together. Don't over mix the dough. You just want it to be smooth and soft.
- Cover with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for 30 mins.
Making sugar syrup for Gulab Jamun
- While the dough is resting, in a bowl, add sugar, water, cardamom pods and saffron.
- Bring to a boil. Then simmer for 7 minutes. Do not overcook the syrup. The sugar syrup thickens when as it cools, so it shouldn’t look too thick.
- Add lemon juice, rose water and stir well. By adding lemon juice, sugar syrup doesn’t form crystals.
Making Gulab Jamun balls
- Grease your palms with some ghee. With your hands, knead the whole dough once.
- Make small balls from the dough. When rolling to balls, make sure the balls are smooth with no cracks, else they might break when frying. Squeeze the dough between your palms to make it smooth and crack-free. If there are cracks, add a few drops of milk to make it smooth.
- The balls will increase in size after frying & soaking in syrup. Make equal sized balls, about 15 from this dough.
Frying and soaking the Gulab Jamun
- Heat the ghee/oil well in a fry pan/wok before starting to fry the balls. Fry on medium-low heat. On high heat, they will get dark from the outside, but will not be cooked well from the inside.
- Add them to the syrup while the syrup is warm (not boiling hot), so they soak in all the sweetness and become soft. If syrup is too hot, the balls might break. If it is cold, then the balls will not soak the syrup well. Soak for at least 30 minutes before enjoying. Soaking for up to 2-3 hours works great too.
- Gulab Jamun's are ready to be enjoyed.
Notes
- Too much baking powder was added to the dough.
- The dough balls had cracks and the dough was not soft. Knead dough again to make balls without cracks.
- Oil was too hot when frying the gulab jamun.
- The dough is too stiff or if it is over-kneaded.
- The dough was pressed too hard when making the balls. You want to use soft hands while making the balls.
- The balls were fried on high heat, which can make them hard from outside and uncooked from inside.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Meghna says
loved this it was so amazing, I made it gluten free with arrow root a day cornflour. it was so soft and delicate, loved it! will make it again and again. thank you for sharing.
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi Meghna- So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing back 🙂
Sattur Mittai Kadai says
Thank you for sharing the Recipe
Chandana says
Hi
I followed ur recipe as it had 2 cups khoya , usualy I follow my friends blog , this tym also I decided to follow them . But my mistake I mashed 2 cups khoya , all other websites have 1 cup khoya and rest of ingredients. I searched and searched at last found ur recipe . I was hesitant and sceptical to try it as it was new blog for me . .....! But I must say , ur recipe was a super duper hit . Made khoya gulab jamuns for diwali for first tym ( I always make readymade powder one 🙄) . The jamuns were melt in mouth and had amaze taste of khoya.. yummmmm.
Thank you so much , keep going wid ur passion. God bless 😊👍
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi Chandana - So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing your experience 🙂
Indrani says
Followed step by step. Used nanak khoya. Jamoonn is very mushy
Meeta Arora says
Hi Indrani - Sorry to hear the jamuns feel mushy. I would say, add some more all-purpose flour (maida about 1/2 cup) next time to get more firm gulab Jamuns. I hope you enjoyed the taste.
Shalini says
I followed the recipe to every detail but my gulab jamuns are mushy at the centre; even when I fried them on low heat. They taste good though.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Shalini - Sorry to hear the Gulab Jamuns are mushy. You can add a little more all-purpose flour next time to get a more firm texture. I am glad you like the taste.
Divya says
Khoya brand please, gonna buy first time for this recipe
Meeta Arora says
Hi Divya - I have used Nanak brand khoya for this recipe. Hope you enjoy the Gulab Jamun.
chirag Choudhary says
Your recipe is amazing, i always follow you whenever i need to cook anything, I also made a step by step video of your recipe.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Chirag - Happy to hear you are enjoying the recipes. I would request you to give credit to the recipe creator if you use their recipe to make a video.
harilal says
https://harilalventures.in/collections/sweets
Gulab jamun is made from khoya and dried milk powder. It is one of the most loved Indian sweet, from other Indian sweets. Harlilal sells Gulab jamun in packed formed of 1 kg and 1/2kg. They also packed the sweets for the special occasion accordingly. It is one of the sweet which is used by the people for their special occasion. Like the wedding, birthday, festivals.