I have been obsessed with making fritters lately. I absolutely love the sight of those tiny deep fried sweeten dough. It’s comforting and very forgiving. You really cannot go wrong making it. Those uneven shapes and irregular burn patches makes them special and oh so delicious.
These babies are my latest obsession. I tried them once at my favorite Indian restaurant here in the city and now, I am hooked. I love the earthy combination of cardamom and the delicate flavor of rose in this fritter. It can also be somewhat sensual. But what makes this fritter special is that after it is fried, it is then soaked in a syrup flavored in rosewater. You can serve this gorgeous dumplings warm or at room temperature. I like mine scattered with some chopped pistachios, it does make a pretty dessert plate.
Gulab Jamun
1 cup dry non-fat milk powder
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons clarified butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup warm milk
a pinch of ground cardamom
a pinch of salt
vegetable oil for deep frying
In a large bowl, mix together the milk powder, flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt. Next, add in the melted clarified butter and then mix in the milk until well blended. Cover the mixture and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
Heat enough oil in a heavy skillet or use a dutch oven on medium heat for deep frying. Gently knead the dough, and form them into small balls, about 20 – 25.
Lower the heat before dropping the balls in the hot oil. Deep fry the balls in batches. They will start to float and expand from their original size after 3 minutes. Then, increase the heat back to medium and turn them frequently until lightly golden.
Now, remove the fritters from the oil and let them drain and rest on paper towels. After it’s cooled, immerse the fritters into the syrup for a couple of hours before serving as they will start to plump up. You can serve this dumplings chilled, room temperature or even slightly warm.
Rose water syrup
2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon rose water
To make the syrup, place sugar and water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Allow it to simmer and 5 minutes. Then add in the rose water and set aside.
This is the best thing I’ve read all week. I never even knew the name of these things, and always called it “those delicious syrup-soaked doughy balls you can get at Indian restaurants.” And now you posted a recipe. Love.
You had me at cardamom, then you really bowled me over with rosewater syrup! My neighborhood has a large Middle Eastern presence and these flavors have become some of my favorites. Thanks for sharing!
How gorgeous! I love the flavor of rose water and pistachios!
Looks delicious, and I like the bit of ground cardamom!
Looks fantastic! Cardamom and then top it off with the rose water syrup, delicious!
Sweet deep fried dough is just simply irresistible! That speciality looks divine.
Cheers,
Rosa
Wow these look delicious! I’ve actually never had these particular Indian fritters, but they look amazing!
I remember having my first bite of these treats in an Indian eatery in all places…Portugal…can you imagine!
I remember the syrup having an orange water essence and I was all over them.
Thanks to you, I now know what they’re called and have a recipe I can follow ;o)
Ciao for now and flavourful wishes,
Claudia
Those look so yummy! The combination of cardamom and rose water sounds so cool, too. Beautiful!
They really are beautiful! I saw someone make fritters today on TV – weird – I guess it’s a sign I must have them! I love pistachios too 🙂
They look beautiful! Love it with chopped pictachios, gorgeous and delicious! Thanks!
These sound delicious! I had heard of them, but didn’t know exactly what they were. Now I want some!
I’ve never had these but I’m dying to try them now! They sound flavorful and delicious — love the combination of cardamom and rose!
I would love a few of them! Fried stuff usually taste good! Those mini fritters look so tempting.
These look delicious and decadent! All of us health conscious foodies can used a little fried food in our diet now and again!
these delicious tiny fried dough balls sounds so good. love the flavor of rose water and i bet these would make me swoon.
thanks for sharing the recipe, hope you’ll have a wonderful weekend
This is one of my favorite desserts at our local Indian restaurant. They look incredible! 🙂
gulad jamun are a favorite of mine and i’ve never tried making them before. they are the best when they are warm…mmmmm! so comforting! lovely!
These look awesome! I’ve had them out before a number of times but would never even dream of making ’em at home. Oh, and best way to eat ’em? With ice cream 🙂
yummy soft and delicious gulab jamun
These fritters look wonderful and remind me of our Lebanese ouwaymate which are made traditionally for the feast of Epiphany in January; they are fried and dipped in a rose and orange blossom syrup. I would love to taste yours and compare!!
Oh wow, these are fantastic! I love fritters but have never had them in a syrup like this, wonderful!
Little balls of fried dough…cardamom…rose syrup…these are sensual indeed! Thank you for sharing your heart and these treats. I hope you have a blessed Saturday!
No wonder your obsessed with little balls of dough like this., they sound absolutely heavenly. I am so in love with cardamon, I doubt I could stop at just a couple 🙂
Rose water sounds divine… so dainty, but I bet equally flavorful as well. Those little petite rounds look profound…. wish I could pop one into my mouth..
OOoo, your gulab jamun turned out nicely! I bet they were delicious.
They remind me of weddings ’cause they’re usually served at Indian weddings…yum.
How do I get some now?! Yours looks delectable and the combination of pistachio and cardamom is perfect.
I ‘ve never had these, but a fritter bathed in rose syrup does sound (and look) like a sensual dessert experience!
I don’t know why I’ve never made doughnuts or fritters at home, but this is new inspiration to do it! These look so delicious, and the cardamom in them must have been fantastic.
I’m so addicted to the taste of rosewater right now, so your gulab jamun would go down extremely well with me. After eating a spicy curry dish, I always look for this Indian dessert to soothe my burning tongue! Thanks for sharing the recipe ;-).
Pleeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase come to my house and make these for me. I love gulab jaman when its nice and fresh. Only problem is I am afraid of deep frying (i once started a fire that way).
These look so yummy, the most tempting thing I’ve seen in a while.
*kisses* HH
Oh, yum! These sound delicious. I have never tried these, but now I must! They look so yummy!!
These are so soft looking gulab jamuns.I can almost feel how spongy they wud be in your pictures.
Re: You can find “kewra” or “keora” water in any of the indian stores..infact you can use it to flavor gulab jamun syrup too in place of rose water.
Lovely little fried gems! They are making my mouth water and sound so delicious!
Wonderful fritters. These look so good. The rose syrup looks very intriguing.
Oh I love those and always assumed they were harder to make. I’ll have to give it a try. Your pics are gorgeous!
I love these little sweet treats…specially with the rose water…so nice and fragrant 🙂
These are just waiting to be made and eaten. They are yummy looking.
Oooohh, I love gulab jamun – I even have all of the ingredients – so tempting ….
You’re reading my mind again! I was just saying to a friend that I love gulab jamen and wishing for some to appear-and so they did, on my screen!
How could you know? It has been a few days I’ve been craving for gulab jamun… Yours turned out perfect: golden and delicately tasty….
Bathed in rose water syrup, wow! I love cardamom and I think these little golden balls are pretty amazing;-)
These look beautiful! They remidn me of these little Nigerian donuts that I loved.
We first had these while vacationing in India. They are a wonderful treat for those who have a sweet tooth. Your recipe is terrific and your photos are outstanding. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Beautiful gulab jamun! With the cardamom and rosewater they must be delicious. Wish you lived next door…I’d be ringing your doorbell right now.
i have never tried any of these before, but they look and sound very delicious!
I’ve tried these before but never made them (yet!). This is being bookmarked! They look divine!!
Mary xx
Delightful Bitefuls
Oh these look like dreamy deliciousness!
Love the rose water in there.
I too have an obsession with deep fried fritters. This looks amazing.
Just discovered your blog through a comment on mine and so glad I did. Your recipes and photos are wonderful.
These sound lovely, aromatic and so delicious! I am in love!
I can see why you are obsessed with these. They sound amazing and look incredible.
Sounds great, I’ve never tasted anything like this before!
What pretty little gulab jamuns! They are so amazing, I love them and usually make them with cream. The last batch I made had fresh rose petals stuffed in the middle .. a Persian take on the sweet little things 🙂
Never made these from scratch, but your recipe sounds easy and they look soooo good. Im going to try these!
Looks delicious and sooo irresistible!
I’ve tried them before in Indian restaurants! Yum!
I love fritters, well really anything fried, lol
I love rosewater, never thought to make syrup with it!!
sweetlife
My mom makes these using my grandmother’s Indian recipe and they are so super sweet that I can only take a bite of two. But yours are gorgeous and look delicious!!
Yum yum and yum! Always so fun when you decide to make a recipe that you love and it turns out perfect! These look delicious!
Oooooh…I love these, but I’ve never tried them before with rosewater. I’d sure love to try them like that, but unfortunately, I don’t have any powdered milk. I’m gonna have to try to remember to pick some up at the store. They look wonderful! 🙂
Ooh, how tempting – I’ve never made anything like it. Will have to try. Thanks for the inspiration!
this is one of my all time favorite things!! seriously. yumm!