How to make soft and heavenly Gulab Jamuns using Sweet Potatoes?
Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun Recipe (with Milk Powder) – This easy method for making Sweet Potato Gulab Jamuns will turn those dull dinner evenings into a party. We feared it would break apart but it was the most delicious Gulab Jamun we’ve had to date, even rivaling the ones you get in restaurants. This Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun can compete with the regular Gulab Jamun for taste and texture. This particular recipe uses Milk Powder to create the Gulab Jamun balls along with the pulp from Sweet Potato.
We expected the Sweet Potato taste to put off the overall taste of Gulab Jamun but it turned the other way around – it enhanced the final taste big time to be ultra-delicious. The sweet from the Sweet Potato was subtle because initially, we were apprehensive about how much sugar should be added to counter the natural sweetness of the Sweet Potato.
In this sweet Potato Gulab jamun version, we’ve used typical ingredients that you will use to make Gulab Jamun but having Sweet Potato as the main ingredient. We’ve grated the sweet Potato finely and later mixed with Milk Powder to form a dough that was later fried and dipped in Sugar Syrup.
The ‘Gulab’ in Gulab Jamun means Rose – because of the Rose flavor that it carries. Gulab Jamun was supposedly a sweet that was only served to Kings and Queens in ancient times because of the exotic taste and the aura that it carried. However, everyone now has access to this royal sweet :). You can almost always find Gulab Jamun served during special occasions such as in an Indian wedding menu or during Indian festivals such as Diwali.
The traditional Gulab Jamun is made from Khoa (or Kova or Khoya) – which are milk solids used in preparing Indian sweets such as Peda and Burfi. But because the process to make Khoa is so time-consuming people use off the shelf ready mixes for Gulab Jamuns. So the easier option is to use Milk powders to form the base that will be used in making Gulab Jamuns.
We’ve said this before, Indian Sweets recipes, especially traditional Indian sweets are hard to make because of the elaborate procedure and also because you need that experience.
We’ve in the past, tried several times to get the roundest, tastiest Gulab Jamuns but the success rate has been very low. So we were pleasantly surprised and happy that it turned out right the first time. Yes, there were some that were over-fried but we fixed the next batch by simple frying in a low flame.
Gulab Jamun is perhaps the most popular sweet in Indian cuisine – it’s fans are spread across India and beyond. Both Bengal and Orissa claim to the inventors of this delectable sweet but we think that this is India’s gift to the world. For those who don’t know Gulab Jamun, it is an Indian sweet that resembles a mini ball made out of sugar, milk (or milk solids) and rose essence.
So go ahead and try this one for your Dinner menu. Let us know how it turned out. You can combine this Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun with another recipe – Sweet Potato Vada and have this as an evening snack.
Check out also other Indian sweet recipes here.
Other Gulab Jamun recipes from Indian food bloggers:
- Gulab Jamun recipe with milk powder from Swasthi’s recipes
- Gulab Jamun recipe from NDTV Cooks
- Gulab Jamun recipe from MilkandCardamom
Recipe for Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun (Milk Powder) with step-by-step photos, below:
Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun Recipe
Equipment
- kadai
- shredder
Ingredients
- 2 nos sweet potato pressure cook for three whistles and remove the outer skin.
- 1.5 cup sugar for sugar syrup
- 3 tablespoon milk powder
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1.5 cup water for sugar syrup
- oil for frying
How to make:
- Once remove the outer skin of the sweet potato after pressure cook, shred the sweet potatoes using shredder.
- Add milk powder and make it as dough. Should not add any water.
- Add baking soda, once the milk powder completely mixed with the sweet potato.
- Add ghee and mix the dough completely.
- Apply ghee or oil in the hands. A small amount of dough is taken in the hands and make as a ball (size of a small lemon, about an inch and a half in diameter.
- Likewise, make all the dough into tiny balls and cover it with the lid. Keep this aside.
- Depends on the quantity of the sweet potato, make the sugar syrup. I have used this cup for the measurement of sugar as shown in the image.
- Add the sugar and water in the large bowl and heat it.
- Add the rose essence in the bowl.
- Heat the bowl until all the sugar dissolves. Dont wait for single string consistency.
- Heat the oil in the kadai. Once heated, add one ball into it. you can see the bubbles.
- Make sure, the balls should not break.
- Then add the balls one by one slowly.
- Once the balls turns into the brown color, it is the correct time to remove from the oil.
- Remove all the jamun balls from the oil carefully.
- Then put the balls in the sugar syrup immediately.
- Allow this to rest for 2 hours. This allows the Jamun balls to abosrb the sugar syrup completely
- Enjoy the most delicious Sweet Potato Gulab jamun with some hot Chai or Coffee.
Notes
Nutrition / Calories (Estimate only)
Sugar Syrup isn’t thick and is watery.
Make sure to boil the sugar syrup just before it reaches one string consistency. The syrup needs to be sticky.
There is a tinge of salty taste in the Gulab Jamuns. How to fix?
You might have added more baking soda than needed. Please ensure to use only the given amount mentioned in the ingredients
Gulab Jamuns are not smooth and they break. What to do?
Make sure that enough milk is added when making the dough. Otherwise it’ll turn our inconsistent. Also please use enough ghee when rolling the dough into the Gulab Jamun balls.
Some Jamuns turned out dark after frying, why?
Please make sure that your gas stove is in medium flame, otherwise the Jamuns will be over-fried.
Some Jamuns are not sweet as the others, how to fix?
Once you fry a batch of Gulab Jamuns, immediately add them in the sugar syrup, this will ensure that the syrup is abosorbed by the Jamuns properly. Don’t worry if a batch don’t turn out well, you can always try again.
The dough isn’t smooth and is a little fibrous.
Make sure that the sweet potato is properly grated into fine slices. Also the sweet Potato that you have chosen should be in a ripe state. Once it is properly mixed in the dough you should have a consistent dough to work with.