Dry Jamun | Dry Gulab Jamun
Dry Jamun as the name suggests is a dry variant of the popular, juicy, moist and sugar syrup dunked, traditionally made Gulab Jamun. These delicious dry gulab jamuns are made with Khoya (evaporated milk solids) and Paneer (Indian cottage cheese). Dry is the English word for ‘Sukha’ in Hindi. Hence as the name suggests these jamuns do not have sugar syrup served with them. Hence they are also known as Sukha Jamun.
About Dry Jamun
The dry jamun recipe is similar to the Kala Jamun recipe, I had posted earlier with just a few changes. The recipe yields about 36 to 38 jamuns.
As mentioned above, to make these, you will need soft khoya, paneer, milk and a few flavoring ingredients like green cardamom powder, saffron strands and rose water.
You will also need sugar and water to make the sugar syrup. Making the sugar syrup is not difficult at all.
A soft dough is made from the khoya, paneer and milk. Smalls balls are made from the dough which are later fried to a golden perfection.
The fried balls or jamuns are kept to soak in the sugar syrup for about 2 hours. Later the jamuns are removed or strained from the syrup and coated with finely granulated sugar or desiccated coconut.
You can make them in round shapes or oblong oval shape. Make the dry jamun for Diwali and enjoy with your family, friends and guests.
And what do you do with the leftover sugar syrup? Keep the syrup in the fridge and add them to drinks like nimbu pani or in milkshakes instead of sugar.
You can also add the sugar syrup to sweets like Kheer, Rabdi, Basundi. And also in baked goodies like cakes or muffins.
How to make Dry Jamun
Make Jamuns
1. In a bowl, take 250 grams of khoya or mawa.
The khoya used for jamuns is the soft khoya also known as daap ka khoya or chikna khoya. This is a soft khoya, so it mashes and kneads very well.
2. Mash the khoya very well with your hands. Keep aside. There should be no lumps or small bits or pieces in the khoya.
You can also grate and then mash the khoya. The mashed khoya should not feel granular to touch.
3. Grate 100 grams paneer and keep aside. 100 grams paneer yields about ½ cup grated paneer.
Use a fine grater to grate the paneer. If using freshly made paneer than make sure the paneer is strained well of the whey.
4. Now add the grated paneer and 3 tablespoons all purpose flour (maida) to the mashed khoya.
5. Add 1 tablespoon milk.
6. Gently mix everything very well.
7. Bring together this mixture and form into a dough. Do not knead the dough. Just mix very well and gather to a dough.
If the mixture looks dry and does not cling together to a dough, you can add 1 tablespoon more of the milk.
If the mixture looks too moist, then add 1 to 2 teaspoon of all-purpose flour (maida).
8. Now pinch small marble sized balls from the dough and roll them in a round shape between your palms. Roll lightly and not heavily.
10. Roll all the jamuns this way and keep them covered with a cotton kitchen towel.
Please note that I used half of the dough to make these dry jamuns and the remaining half to make kala jamuns.
Make Sugar Syrup
11. Take 2 cups sugar in a pan.
12. Add 1.5 cups water.
13. Keep this pan on stove top on a low to medium heat and stir so that the sugar begins to dissolve.
14. When all the sugar is dissolved, add ¼ teaspoon of lemon juice. The lemon juice does not allow the sugar syrup to crystallize.
15. Cook the sugar syrup on a low to medium heat till you get ½ string consistency or the syrup becomes sticky.
16. Switch off the heat and add ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder and 12 to 15 strands of saffron, crushed. Also add 1 tablespoon rose water.
Fry Jamun
17. When the sugar syrup is cooking, you can begin frying the jamuns. As when you add the fried jamuns, the sugar syrup needs to be hot.
Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or deep pan on a low to medium heat. You can also use ghee for deep frying.
18. For testing, slid a tiny dough ball in the hot oil. The ball should come up slowly and not quickly. This is the temperature at which we will fry the jamuns.
19. Keep the heat to a low and fry this tiny jamun ball.
20. Fry this small jamun till it becomes golden.
If this jamun ball breaks, then add a few teaspoons of flour to the dough and mix well again. Before you begin shaping the jamuns, you can do this test.
21. Now gently slid the jamuns. The heat should be low. Do not crowd and add the jamuns as per the size of the pan.
22. When you see light golden spots, turn over the jamuns gently.
23. Keep on turning them in the oil, like a gentle swirling with the slotted spoon, so that they brown evenly.
24. When frying the jamuns have to feel light and not heavy. The jamuns fry very quickly, so do be attentive.
25. Fry till they turn golden.
25. Remove with a slotted spoon and place fried jamuns on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Make Dry Jamun
26. Whilst they are hot, quickly add them to the sugar syrup. Fry all the jamuns in the same way and add them to the sugar syrup.
Note that the sugar syrup has to be hot. To maintain the hot temperature, you can keep the sugar syrup bowl or pan on a hot water bath.
Cover and allow the jamuns to soak in the sugar syrup for about two hours. Use a wide bowl and not a small one like I have used below.
You need to give enough space for the jamuns to expand. I had only 1 spare bowl, so I used it.
27. After 2 hours, strain the jamuns gently from the sugar syrup. Then take each jamun and roll it in a small plate consisting of 2 to 3 tablespoon fine or super fine sugar. You can also use castor sugar.
28. You can also roll the jamuns in desiccated coconut.
29. Roll them well, so that the sugar or desiccated coconut coats evenly. Place dry jamuns in a bowl or container. Close with a lid and refrigerate.
30 Serve Dry Jamun as a dessert or sweet. You can garnish with some sliced or chopped pistachios or blanched almonds while serving.
More Diwali sweets then do check:
Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Dry Jamun | Dry Gulab Jamun
Ingredients
For the jamun balls
For sugar syrup
- 300 grams sugar or 2 cups sugar
- 1.5 cups water
- ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon rose water
- ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder
- 12 to 15 saffron strands
For coating
- 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar – fine or super fine, can also use desiccated coconut or castor sugar
Instructions
Making dry jamun dough
- In a mixing bowl, take the khoya or mawa. The khoya used for jamuns is the soft khoya also known as daap ka khoya or chikna khoya. This is a soft khoya, so it mashes and kneads very well.
- Mash the khoya very well with your hands. Keep aside. There should be no lumps or small bits or pieces in the khoya. You can also grate and then mash the khoya. Also, the mashed khoya should not feel granular.
- Grate the paneer and keep aside. 100 grams paneer yields about ½ cup grated paneer. Use a fine grater to grate the paneer.
- Now add the grated paneer and all-purpose flour (maida) to the mashed khoya.
- Add milk. Gently mix everything very well.
- Bring together this mixture and form into a dough. Do not knead the dough. Just mix and gather to a dough. If the mixture looks dry and does not cling together to a dough, you can add 1 tablespoon more of the milk
- Now pinch small marble sized balls from the dough and roll them in a round shape between your palms. Roll lightly and not heavily.
- Roll all the jamuns this way and keep them covered with a cotton kitchen towel.
Making sugar syrup
- Take the sugar in a pan and add water.
- Keep this pan on stove top on a low to medium heat and stir so that the sugar begins to dissolve.
- When all the sugar is dissolved, add lemon juice. The lemon juice does not allow the sugar syrup to crystallize.
- Cook the sugar syrup on a low to medium heat till you get ½ string consistency or the syrup becomes sticky.
- Switch off the heat and add green cardamom powder, crushed saffron strands and rose water.
Frying dry jamun
- When the sugar syrup is cooking, you can begin frying the jamuns. As when you add the fried jamuns, the sugar syrup needs to be hot.
- Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai or deep pan on a low to medium heat.
- For testing, slid a tiny dough ball in the hot oil. The ball should come up slowly and not quickly. This is the temperature at which we will fry the jamuns.
- Keep the heat to a low and fry this tiny jamun ball.
- Fry this small jamun till it becomes golden. If this jamun ball breaks, then add a few teaspoons of flour to the dough and mix well again. Before you begin shaping the jamuns, you can do this test.
- Now gently slid the jamuns. The heat should be low. Do not crowd and add the jamuns as per the size of the pan.
- When you see light golden spots, turn over the jamuns gently. The jamuns fry very quickly, so do be attentive.
- Keep on turning them in the oil, like a gentle swirling with the slotted spoon, so that they brown evenly.
- When frying the jamuns have to feel light and not heavy.
- Fry till they turn golden from all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Making Dry Gulab Jamun
- Whilst they are hot, quickly add them to the sugar syrup. Fry all the jamuns in the same way and add them to the sugar syrup.
- Note that the sugar syrup has to be hot. To maintain the hot temperature, you can keep the sugar syrup bowl or pan on a hot water bath. Cover and allow the jamuns to soak in the sugar syrup for about 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, gently strain the jamuns from the sugar syrup.
- Then take each jamun and roll it in a small plate consisting of 2 to 3 tablespoons of fine or superfine granulated sugar or 2 to 3 tablespoons of desiccated coconut.
- Roll them well, so that the sugar or desiccated coconut coats evenly. Place dry jamuns in a bowl or container. Close with a lid and refrigerate.
- Serve dry jamuns as a dessert or sweet. You can garnish with some sliced or chopped pistachios or blanched sliced almonds while serving.
Notes
- Use soft khoya to make the dry jamuns. The khoya or mawa has to grate easily or knead/mash well.
- Add your choice of slivered nuts on the dry jamuns for garnish. You can also skip on the garnishes if you prefer.
- Fry on low to medium-low heat to get the best results.
- Keep in mind that the sugar syrup has to be hot, when you soak the jamuns in it.
- The recipe can be scaled to halve or double the servings.
- Note that the approximate nutrition info is for one dry jamun made from this recipe.
Nutrition
This Dry Jamun recipe from the archives, originally published in November 2015 has been updated and republished on January 2023.
Hi mam,
What is the shelf life of dry jamuns ?
Please reply…..
stays good for 10 to 12 days in the fridge.
Dear madam..can you suggest any other flour in place of maida? Also, some say that the syrup must be hot, but the balls must be cooled before adding them to the syrup.. else the syrup will not be absorbed by the balls.. please clarify.. thanks in advance
renuka, you can add atta (whole wheat flour) or besan (gram flour). with atta you have to be careful as the correct amount of moisture should be there. otherwise the jamuns can become hard. the jamuns absorb syrup when they are hot. when they are cooled, they do not absorb the syrup that well. so i suggest to add the jamuns when they are hot.
hello ma’am,
thnx for lovely recipes. i m die hard fan of your recipes.
in particular recipe, i have one doubt, if i use readymade mawa (From halwai/shop) should i first bake it in non stick pan (Like we do in making gujiya) or i should use it directly??
and if i have to bake, then till how much time??
thanks a lot neha. no need to bake. use directly.
Hi,
I always follow your recipes and they are great, they have correct measurements, its very helpful 🙂 I prepared this for travel since they are dry jamuns. I followed your recipe to prepare mawa and stored it in fridge overnight. Next day I tried to make the dough as per the above recipe, but the mawa was sticky so i added around 6-7 tbsp of maida and 2 tbsp of milk powder but still it was really sticky. But I finally made the balls by applying more ghee on my hands. I finished preparing the jamuns. Now waiting for the sugar syrup to get soaked. So I have these doubts. Pls clarify.
1. Why the mawa was so sticky?
2. Will it taste bad bcoz of adding milk powder and extra maida?
Pls help.
amritha, homemade made mawa will have more moisture than the ones brought from a halwai. so in this case you can add some more dry ingredients. alternatively you could have cooked the mawa more, so that more moisture would have evaporated from it. no it won’t taste bad. what you did was right. let me know how they turn out after soaking in the syrup.
super my husband like more I loved it way thank u
Hi dear..I m a big fan of ur blog..my hubby z a grt lover of gulab jamun..I make it with ready made gulab jamun mix..but problem z dat , jamuns are left with some hard part at the centre.. Wud u plz tell me d reason and its solution..
thank you sunita. the dough should not be kneaded, but just mixed lightly. if the dough is kneaded then there gluten strands are formed, which makes the jamuns hard. due to this the jamuns do not absorb the sugar syrup. gluten is a protein found in flour which helps in making breads.
Hi Dassanna, writing after a long time. I sent a msg to u some times back, but I didn’t see it in the reply section. Anyway Happy Deepavali. I always prepare the gulab jamuns with ready pack. I usually take all the measurements in the same cup, I.e, 1:1:1 jamun mix, water, sugar. So there will be no sugar syrup left. And I am gonna try this as my son loves gulab jamun a lot. Your recipes never let me down. May God Bless u.
thanks sushma. i did not receive any message from you. if i had, i would have replied. wish you too a happy diwali. do try this recipe. its a good one.
Hi,
Thank you so much for posting all these yummy and easy recipes. I’ve tried many of them and they turned out to be really yumm. Earlier I was very scared about sweets, but as you have posted every recipe with step by step instructions, everything is easier now. I can now relate to your pictures whether I am going right or something is wrong. Once again thank you so much. God bless you… 🙂
we are quite pleased to know this prachi 🙂 let us know how the sweets were once you try them. you are welcome and thankyou for your kind and honest words god bless you too.
OMG…. 🙂
Gulab Jamuns were really out of the world. It was my first time and these Jamuns turned out to be a blast… 🙂
I am really very happy. Thank you so much. 🙂
thats great prachi and thanks you for this super feedback 🙂
Dear Dassana,
My doubt is about basic chocolate cake – Eggless. I am unable to post a comment there. I was thinking of baking that cake on one of these days. Have got couple of doubts. If we want to do frosting with white chocolate chips, how to go about it? And the cake as well as the frosting should be cooled down completely before spreading it??? Thanks in advance 🙂
for frosting with chocolate chips, just heat a few tablespoons of milk and butter. just heat and no need to boil. add the chips. stir well so that they melt with the heat from the milk+butter mixture. let the frosting come at room temperature then you can spread it. the cake also be should be at room temperature before you begin with frosting. you can also make the cake a day before and refrigerate.
Superb superb superb!
I and my mom are a huge fan of yours!
we adore all your recipes… and make it a point to atleast try once…
the best part is that we also follow satvik food style and avoid eating out.. hence your website is the most handy to browse and learn…
THANK U SO so so… MUCH!
this is a lovely recipe.. 1 doubt..
cab this be used in travelling or in sending some 1 without refrigeration
my bro is in the US.. and the only thing he loves is gulabjamun… cant travel with wet raasdaar ones as its banned(even the tin ones)
so i m planning to send these to him
will it stay?
thanks a lot minal. please convey my thanks to your mom too. same here. we do not eat outside, except when we travel for a vacation. for one day the jamuns will be good. but after one day, depending on the outside temperature conditions, the jamuns might deteriorate. in fact the wet gulab jamuns with the sugar syrup stays for a longer time than the dry ones. if some one is travelling to US, then you can send. wish you and your family a happy diwali.
for how long will they stay?? should we store them at room temperature or in the refrigerator?
store in the fridge. since syrup is not there, they stay better in the fridge. for a week in the fridge they are good.
Hello Dassana. Happy Diwali 🙂
So, I made these gulab jamuns today but they seem way too sweet to be eaten. could be because of the mawa and sugar though i used the prescribed quantity. So its kinda inedible now 🙁
happy diwali santosh. these are not too sweet. they are just sweet. did the mawa you used had sugar in it. the mawa has to be without sugar. the proportion of sugar mentioned in recipe makes the jamuns sweet and not very sweet.
a little late to reply back but i owed you this! So, after a day in the refrigerator, the gulab jaumuns became really tasty and the sweetness somehow got adjusted while they were refrigerated and everyone loved them. Thank you 🙂
thanks santosh for taking the time out to inform me. good to know. the more time the jamuns are soaked, they absorb the syrup well.
Which tastes better gulab jamun made with milk powder or with khoya. I am confused between them . Can we make dry one with milk powder. I too want to make barfi but your mouthwatering pics had confused me which one to make. One thing more I know you have busy schedule but could you take time to post dry rasgullas.
gulab jamun made with khoya tastes better than the one made with milk powder. the ones made with khoya taste like the mithai shop ones. yes you can make dry gulab jamuns with milk powder too. will try to add, but may be after diwali or christmas.
Hi, I tried the basic eggless choco cake and tawa paneer ….big hit with my kids and their friends. They loved it so much. Youve made it sound so easy with your step by step pictures and instructions. Infact my 10year old son checks your website everyday after coming back from school , selects the recipe that he wants…thanks a lot . Keep up the good work.
Have a small doubt , in this eggless chococake , can flax seed powder be used? Also let me know where to find Instant yeast in Chennai, because each time i bake breads , only yeast is letting me down!!!
Thanks once again,good luck, happy diwali!!!!!
thats so sweet and cute, lakshmi 🙂 your son is fond of his mom’s cooking 🙂
yes you can use flaxseed powder. 1 tbsp is fine. just mix the flaxseed powder with 3 tbsp water and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes. you can even make a night before and refrigerate. later add it to the cake. instant yeast is difficult to get in chennai. even where i live its not available. i ordered it online in bulk and kept the packets in the fridge. i purchased from – http://www.gourmetco.in/
you can comment or message them and ask if its available or not. its a breeze to make breads with instant yeast as the initial proofing is not required. plus it takes less time too.
We can add rajgira aur shingada flour instead of all purpose flour (maida) to make gulab jamun for fasting.
yes we can add 🙂
Hi,
I tried most of ur recipes. They all were good especially eggless cakes recipes. Can you please upload the recipe of half and half cookies.
Thanks
thanks preeti. will do.
My fav sweet. Looks yummy.. Gonna try this…
thanks sriranjani.