For one of my trio of desserts for Barb and Kevin’s dinner party this evening I decided to make Gulab Jamun which are deep fried milk powder fritters flavoured with Indian spices and drenched in Rose Water Simple Syrup.
Gulab Jamun
I found the recipe on line, but I altered it, as indicated below. For the real recipe, click here.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1.5 cups water
- 4 drops rose water
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 7 tbsp powdered milk
- 3 tsp self-raising flour
- 1 tsp semolina (Sooji)
- 3 tsp melted butter
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp orange rind
- pinch of saffron
- milk to mix
- 1 L oil for deep frying
- Put the sugar and water in a heavy base or nonstick pan and heat to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat and boil for 10 minutes to make a simple syrup. Mix in the rose water and orange zest and set aside.
- Combine powdered milk, flour, semolina, melted butter, ground cardamom, and saffron in a bowl. Mix well with a little milk to make a soft dough.
- Using a teaspoon, make and roll balls until all of the dough is used.
- Heat the oil to 375° F and gently deep-fry the balls until golden brown.
- Remove with slotted spoon and put into the syrup.
- Bring the syrup to a boil, then remove from the heat.
- Transfer two to three balls to a small shallow dish, serve warm.
Kitcheninspirations 
[…] I wanted something a little different because I’d already made Chai Crème Brûlée and Gulab Jamun. I’ve always wanted to bake Lady Fingers and that’s how I landed on Chai […]
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[…] our very generous neighbours. As you know, I’m not a huge fan of Indian desserts (remember this one?) so when I planned the dinner party I knew right away that I wanted to make a version of Chai […]
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I’ve made gulab jamun and found that a much lower temperature (300-325 deg F) works best and makes it resemble the ones I buy at a nearby Indian grocery store.
Have you ever tried rasgullah or rasmalai (the sweet cheese balls)?
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I did find them a little burnt tasting; to be honest, not one of my favorite desserts, I find the rose water a little strong – I doubt I’ll make it again. Thanks for the tip, though.
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I also did not care for the rose water in the syrup.
I used the rose water version when I made rasgulla and found that I didn’t care for the taste. It was just too cloying and ‘rose’y. In future I would just use same syrup as for the gulab jamun I had made in an earlier Indian sweet experiment. This is the recipe I used.
Syrup
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
4 cardamom pods, cracked (or 1/4 tsp ground cardamom)
4 strands of saffron (optional)
Bring ingredients to a boil, stir. Cover and let simmer.
You shouldn’t stop making the gulab jamun because you didn’t like the syrup though. The syrup they use in the Indian grocery store is just sugar, water and maybe a tsp or so of lemon juice. I like to microwave the balls just a bit in the syrup before serving and can eat 3 after a full Indian meal even if I feel stuffed. 🙂
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Thanks for the tips. I’ll try it again for my next Indian themed dinner party.
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I love Indian foods but only make half a dozen dishes at home. I make samosas from scratch including the dough though the filling is not the traditional potato and pea but a ground beef (you can add peas if you want) version which I’d happily share the recipe for. I also have a recipe for a wonderful spinach paratha adapted from the recipe here.
http://momrecipies.blogspot.com/2008/06/palak-parathaspinach-paratha.html
I want to do stuffed parathas one of these days when I have the time.:) Luckily parathas freeze well so you can make a batch ahead of time, freeze and thaw just before serving. They’re excellent fresh, of course but it IS a time saver when you’re doing a complex Indian dinner.
PS: I’m a Canadian too … from south western Ontario.
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Cool! So glad your reading my blog. Nice to share with fellow Canadians too.
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This looks so good. I can’t wait to try it.? Thanks,V.
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