Soft Gulab Jamun (With Milk Powder)

Make soft & spongy gulab jamun at home with just a few simple ingredients like milk powder, flour, ghee, and sugar. I created this recipe more than ten years ago, and every time I make a batch, it fills me with pride. Over the years, I've certainly made tweaks, but the result is always delicious!

You don't need a special occasion to enjoy gulab jamun. They're perfect for festivals like Diwali, Holi, or Dussehra, as well as for family gatherings and celebrations. Juicy, sweet, and irresistible, these little treats are pure joy in every bite! They make for a wonderful edible gift!

Gulab Jamun is one of the most iconic indian mithai. In fact, it feels impossible to discuss Indian cuisine without mentioning this popular sweet. A similar sweet is kala jamun, which looks like gulab jamun but has a much darker, almost black color.

Making gulab jamun takes patience and practice. It is not the kind of mithai that you can truly master in one go. It takes a while to understand when the dough feels right and consistency of sugar syrup. That is why so many people find it little intimidating.

But, once you get a hang of it, the taste, texture and fresshness of homemade gulab jamun are way superior to any thing that comes from a can, frozen box or an instant mix. Please do ask away questions that you have in the comments section or share your feedback about how this recipe fared in your kitchen.

Why Milk Powder?

Traditionally, gulab jamun are made with khoya or mawa. Khoya are milk solids that remain after reducing whole milk for long time until the moisture of milk has evaporated.

You may wonder why I use milk powder in my recipe. That's becasue when I first developed this recipe over 10 years ago, good quality khoya was not that easy to find in Indian grocery stores in the United States. So I used whole milk powder instead. The results were so good that I continued with it.

Nowadays, there are certainly some good khoya brands available, but I find there's quite a bit of inconsistency in both fat content and moisture levels from brand to brand. Few brands have silky smooth khoya, while others have a more grainy texture.

This doesn't pose much of an issue when making mithai like burfi or ladoo, but it can become tricky in the case of gulab jamun, since the dough needs to hold up during deep frying.

Shelf life is another factor. Fresh khoya spoils quickly, which means it isn't always practical to keep on hand. Milk powder, on the other hand, stores beautifully for months and hence it is far more convenient. I don't have to run to the store every time I feel like making gulab jamun.Let's be honest, those late-night gulab jamun cravings don't exactly wait for grocery runs! Right?

Ingredients

For Gulab Jamun Balls

• All purpose Flour - You need flour to bind the ingredients together and give structure. Flour helps hold the milk powder and ghee in place so the dough balls don't break while frying.
• Milk - Whole milk is the best. Use room temperature milk. Milk rehydrates the milk powder.
• Ghee - Measure the ghee after melting for accuracy. Ghee is added to the dough for softness and aroma. Ideally, the gulab jamun are fried in ghee but I find them too heavy so I fry them in oil with ½ cup ghee added for aroma. The only thing to keep in mind is to strain the oil very well before you add them to syrup.
• Green Cardamom Powder - There is nothing more balmy than freshly ground green cardamom powder. Simply crack the green cardamom pods open and pound the black seeds using a mortar and pestle.
• Baking soda - Helps the dough balls become light and airy instead of dense. When you fry the gulab jamun, baking soda creates tiny air pockets that make them soft and spongy. 

For Sugar Syrup

Always use 1:1 ratio of water and sugar. I use granulated sugar. A few drops of fresh lemon juice prevent crystallization in homemade sugar syrup(so do not skip).

How To Make Gulab Jamun At Home

Make the Gulab Jamun dough

1. Sift all the dry ingredients (milk powder, flour & baking soda) in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the melted ghee. 
2. Gently, using your fingers, mix the flour mixture until it resembles damp sand texture.

3. Start adding little milk at a time (about 1-2 tablespoon) and using your fingers, bring together to form into a soft and smooth dough. I use little over ½ cup of milk for the milk powder + flour quantity mentioned in recipe card. You may need less or more (depends on quality of milk powder).
4. Don't over-knead or squish the dough. The dough should be non sticky and should not have cracks else gulab jamun will fall apart. It should not be dry. There is no need to shape the dough by kneading. We don't want the gluten to form. If over kneaded, the jamun will not absorb syrup and will remain hard inside. 

3. Spread ½ teaspoon ghee on your hands and pinch 22-25 equal portions from the dough. For similar size, weigh the dough portions using a food scale.
4. Roll the dough portions into small balls with no cracks. If your dough balls have cracks, they will spread during frying. Line the balls on a plate & keep covered with a cling film to avoid them from drying. 

Make the Sugar Syrup

5. In a large and wide heavy bottom pot, add water and sugar/
6. On low-medium heat, bring the syrup to a boil. Once all the sugar is dissolved, let the syrup simmer for a minute or two and then switch off the stove. We are not looking for any thread consistency here. It takes about 6-8 minutes on medium heat. If you see scum on top, remove it with a spoon. Read my tips below.
7. Switch off the stove. Sprinkle the green cardamom powder, lemon juice, rose water, saffron strands and mix. Keep warm.

Deep Fry & Soak gulab jamun in Syrup

8. Set oil or ghee for deep frying on low-medium heat. Make sure that the oil quantity is enough so that the gulab jamuns remain fully submerged while deep frying.
9. Once the oil is heated up, to check the oil temperature, add a small piece of dough to the hot oil. It should rise up slowly without sizzling and not change color much. If the dough is sizzling, that means it quite hot and you reduce the flame and wait for oil temperature to come down.
10. Gently slide a few gulab jamun balls (6-8) into the hot oil. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan. As they fry, the baking soda will expand them and they will turn airy inside. This is the first stage where the gulab jamun start increasing in size. You may even notice some of the balls flipping over on their own. This is a wonderful sign that air pockets are forming, which means your gulab jamun will turn out soft and spongy.
11. While frying, maintain a consistent oil temperature and gently stir around the jamuns to ensure even cooking. It should take about 5-7 minutes per batch. You might see some foaming in oil due to baking soda.
12. Once evenly browned on all sides,using a slotted spoon to drain all the excess oil and place the fried balls on paper towels for 5-8 seconds.

Soak in Syrup

8. While they are still warm, add the fried gulab jamun to the hot sugar syrup. The syrup should not be super hot.
9. Finish deep frying all gulab jamun and soak in syrup immediately.
10. Once you've added all the gulab jamun to the syrup, place the pot on a low flame for a minute. This step is not mandatory but may be needed if your syrup temperature has fallen quite a bit. Warming the syrup helps in better soaking. Take care not to let boil, else gulab jamuns will break apart. 
11. Cover the pot and let the gulab jamun soak undisturbed for at least 4-5 hours.

Serve gulab jamun warm or at room temperature in a bowl with few tablespoons of syrup & chopped nuts or dessicated coconut garnish. Read more ideas in recipe card.