How to make Gulab Jamuns at home

Prep the syrup

First, prepare the syrup. To do this, heat a deep pot or pan over medium and add the sugar, cardamoms, water, and lemon juice to it. Cook the syrup for  about 10 minutes or until the syrup has reached a sticky consistency. 

Turn the heat off and allow the syrup to rest. The lemon juice will help keep the syrup from solidifying as it cools.

Prepare the dough

Next, prepare the dough. In a large bowl, add the milk powder, all purpose flour, and baking soda and give it a stir.

When the dry ingredients are combined, add the ghee or oil and mix it well so the ghee or oil evenly mixes with the flour mix.

Slowly stir in the milk to form a soft sticky dough. Do not over mix the dough! Mixing too much can cause the gluten to activate and the texture won’t be right!

Finally, form the dough into balls by greasing your palms with oil and dividing the dough into 10 equal portions about 1 inch around. Roll the dough into crack free balls. If a crack appears, it means the mixture is too dry. Add a little more milk to the dough and gently mix it in. 

Fry the dough

Once the balls are formed, heat enough oil in a heavy bottom wok or fryer to submerge the balls. Set your burner to high heat to get the oil hot.

When the oil is hot, reduce the heat from high to medium.

Next, test the oil temperature by dropping a small pinch of a ball or left scrap of dough in the oil. If the piece comes upward immediately without changing color, the temperature is correct. If the ball comes up and changes color to brown, the oil is too hot and will burn the balls. Allow it to cool down before testing again!

Carefully slide 3 to 4 balls into the fryer or wok and reduce the heat to low. It’s important that the oil is hot when you drop the balls, but they need to be cooked on low heat to make sure the entire ball is cooked.

As they are cooking, use a mesh ladle to give the balls a gentle stir. Fry the balls until golden brown, which takes about 6 to 7 minutes.

Carefully transfer them to  the sugar syrup and allow them to soak for 2 hours before garnishing and serving.

Repeat the same process with the remaining balls. But keep in mind, it is important to reheat the oil each time before adding the balls to fry them. Just don’t forget to immediately lower the heat once you add the ball to the oil!

Once the balls have rested for 2 hours in the syrup, garnish with crushed pistachios and rose petals and serve either warm or cold.

Air Fry / Air Fryer Lid Gulab Jamun Recipe

Follow the steps above to create the dough balls. Once they are made, follow these steps to make a slightly healthier version of gulab jamun.

Air fry them in a Fryer or in your Instant Pot using an Air Fryer Lid.

First, preheat your air fryer to 350°F.

Once it is heated, transfer the balls to the air fryer basket, leaving some space between and spray the balls with cooking spray.

Next, cook the balls for 5 minutes and then increase the heat to 400°F and cook until golden brown. This will take about 10 to 12 minutes.