Step 1

Mix together water, sugar and crushed cardamoms in a pot.

Step 2

Boil the syrup until it turns slightly sticky.

Step 3

Turn off the stove before it goes to a 1 string consistency.

Step 4

If it reaches a 1 string consistency, then add 2 tbsp of water and mix.

Step 5

Add rose water and mix. Set aside to keep it hot.

Step 6

Fluff up the flour in the jar with a fork and then measure correctly.

Step 7

Mix together flour, milk powder and soda in a bowl. Either sieve it or mix uniformly.

Step 8

Add ghee to it.  Mix well.

Step 9

In a small bowl, mix together lemon juice or yogurt and 2 tbsp milk.

Step 10

Pour 1.5 tbsp of this to the flour mixture.

Step 11

Begin to bring the flour together to make a dough.

Step 12

If the dough is too dry, add little more milk & curd until you get a smooth dough. Do not add a lot. Use only as needed.

Step 13

The dough turns sticky. Grease your fingers and make a ball.

Step 14

The dough must not be soggy. It must hold the shape well and should be smooth without any cracks.

Step 15

Divide to 14 to 18 equal sized portions. Grease your hands and roll to smooth balls.

Step 16

They must be smooth without any cracks or lines otherwise you will find many cracks on the gulab jamuns. Keep them covered.

Step 17

Heat up the pan with ghee or oil on a medium heat.

Step 18

Also check if the syrup is hot. If it is not hot, heat it up a bit. It must be hot and not very hot.

Step 19

To check the right temp, you can drop a small piece of dough in the oil.

Step 20

It must rise slowly without changing its color.

Step 21

If it rises rapidly then you will need to cool the oil a bit before frying.

Step 22

When the ghee is just medium hot, add the balls.

Step 23

Make sure the oil is not very hot else the gulab jamuns will brown without cooking well.

Step 24

Fry the balls on a medium flame for 1 to 2 mins. Then regulate the flame to low flame & fry until golden. Keep stirring gently to fry them uniformly.

Step 25

Add them to the hot syrup. Allow them to rest for 3 hours and serve.

Step 26

Garnish gulab jamun with chopped pistachios.