Gulab Jamun (with Khoya)

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:

1. Making the dough
2. Making the sugar syrup
3. Making the balls
4. 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.

1. In a large bowl, grate or crumble the khoya. Add all-purpose flour (maida), baking powder and cardamom powder to it. Mix it well.
2. Now add ghee and mix again.
3. 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.
4. Don't over mix the dough. You just want it to be smooth and soft.
5. 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.

1. In a bowl, add sugar, water, cardamom pods and saffron.
2. Bring to a boil. Then simmer for 7 minutes. Do not overcook the syrup, we only want a sticky consistency.
3. Add lemon juice, rose water and stir well. By adding lemon juice, sugar syrup doesn’t form crystals.
4. 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.

1. Grease your palms with some ghee. With your hands, knead the whole dough once.
2. 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.
3. 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!).

1. Heat the ghee/oil well in a fry pan/wok before starting to fry the balls. Fry on medium-low heat.
2. On high heat, they will get dark from the outside, but will not be cooked well from the inside.
3. 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

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!