Culinary Aromas
- Oct 30, 2020
- 2 min read

Air-Fryer Gulab Jamun

Updated: Nov 2, 2020

If by chance I had ruled the world even for a day, I would have declared "Gulab Jamun" as the sweet dish of the world. In India, attend any birthday party or if a festival comes by, Gulab Jamun is the go-to sweet. The easiest sweet dish to prepare in no time that is loved by everyone - adults and children alike.

Traditionally this is prepared by deep-frying the Jamun in oil and letting it soak in Sugar Syrup. After buying an air-fryer, the first sweet dish I made was this one. Trust me, Air-fried Gulab jamun tastes even better than the traditional fried one! In this detailed post, I walk you through the step-by-step process for creating this mouth-watering sweet dish using an air-fryer. I highly recommend you watch the video!

Video

Ingredients

1 cup = 128g or 250ml

For dough

1 cup Gulab Jamun mix. I prefer Gits. You can make with any brand of choice
¼ cup milk
A drop of oil or ghee

For Sugar Syrup

2½ cups water
1½ cups raw sugar
4 cardamom pods
8-10 saffron strands

Instructions

Sugar Syrup

Warm 2½ cups water in a pan on medium flame.
To that, add 1½ cups of raw sugar.
Then add 4 cardamom pods slightly slit
To that add 8-10 Saffron strands.
Let it boil for 7-8 min. Stir in between. While the Syrup is boiling, make the dough.

Dough

Take the gulab jamun mix in a mixing bowl. Remove any lumps.
Add ¼ cup milk little by little, Mix, and make a soft and smooth dough. Do not knead much. The mix will absorb the milk. Cover with shrink wrap (or use a lid) and let it rest for 10 min.

Jamun

Remove the shrink wrap or lid and check the dough. If it is dry, add a tsp of milk. Dry dough will make it unable to make smooth balls without cracks.
Now, take a small amount of dough. Press and roll between palms and make a smooth ball without any cracks. Don't make it big, however. A small sized ball cooks well on the inside.
Complete this process with about as many balls as you'd like.
Place the balls on an air-fryer basket such that there is 2 inches of space in between each ball.
Pre-heat air-fryer at 350F/180C for 5 min.
Air-fry at 300F/150C for 12 min. This low temp helps the balls cook well inside. Flip each ball every 4min.
Increase the temp to 350F/180C for 5min for browning. For even browning, flip in between (at 2.5 min)
Place the air-fried balls in hot syrup to puff-up well and make the Gulab Jamun soft. Do not place the balls in cold syrup. Let it soak for 4-5 hours. Air fried Jamuns take longer to soak than oil fried ones
Decorate with edible silver foil and rose petals (aka Gulab in Hindi). The rose petals give a nice Gulab flavor.