Our biggest festival of the year – Deepavali is just a few days away and I am starting off my Diwali special recipes today 🙂 Deepavali or Diwali is the festival of lights and celebrated by almost everyone all over India. The customs and traditions might not be the same in every household but the festival spirit is the same 🙂
We make a lot of sweets and savories to celebrate Diwali. In our household, Deepavali is not complete without Gulab Jamuns being made. Sometimes it is with the ready to use mix and sometimes everything is made from scratch. But then, this year I thought why not try something different. In the past I have made Gulab Jamuns using mashed potatoes (my bad, no blog during then) and having tried that, I thought of using some left over bread to make Jamuns.
Bread Gulab Jamuns are a good fix for dessert especially when you don’t have much time or want some instantly. With just few ingredients lying around in the kitchen, an amazing sweet can be prepared so quick, that is nothing less than the original version. I used brown bread and low fat milk to make my Jamuns and once these are made, one can hardly find any difference texture or taste wise 🙂
To make Bread Gulab Jamun | Instant Gulab Jamun
- Brown Bread Slices, 4
- Milk, little less than 1/3 cup
- Sugar, ½ cup
- Water, 1 cup
- Green Cardamon Powder, a generous pinch
- Rose Essence, ¼ tsp (optional)
- Oil/Ghee, for frying
How I made –
1. In a pot, add sugar and water – mix well. Heat it on a low flame, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Add green cardamom powder and keep stirring until the mixture has a sticky consistency. When the sugar syrup is touched between thumb and index finger, it should feel sticky. Remove from heat, add rose essence if using.
2. Cut the crust off the bread and add milk. Using hands, mash the bread mixture into a smooth dough like consistency. Rub some oil/ghee on the palms if the dough is sticky. Make equal sized balls out of the mixture.
3. Heat oil for deep frying. Once hot, reduce the flame to medium. Fry the prepared Jamuns in batches of 4 or 5 until golden brown. Drop the prepared Jamuns in the sugar syrup (making sure it is still warm) and make sure they are immersed well. Let them soak up the syrup for at least 30 mins.
4. Serve Gulab Jamuns warm or chilled 🙂
Note –
- Instead of brown bread, white bread can be used. Make sure the bread is not salted but is sweet.
- Adjust the quantity of milk depending on the bread mixture consistency. You may not use entire 1/3 cup of milk.
- If the bread mixture is too sticky, apply some oil/ghee to grease your palms.
- When making the Jamuns, ensure that there are no cracks.
- While frying the Jamuns, make sure the oil is not too hot. The outside can brown too quickly while the center is raw.
- Make sure to prepare the sugar syrup before preparing the Jamuns.
- The rose essence is what makes Gulab Jamun but if you don’t like the flavor, just use the cardamom powder.
- The sugar syrup has to be warm – neither hot nor cold when the fried Jamuns are added, inorder for them to absorb the syrup correctly.
- Let the jamuns soak up the sugar syrup for atleast 30 mins before serving.
- For longer shelf life, put them in an air tight container in refrigerator.
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Wow super.. Diwali started a? Great share. Love these bread jamuns.
Your photos are gorgeous! Yum ? Have a wonderful celebration!
Your gulab jamuns look delicious! I’ve always loved Diwali. I went to an international school growing up, and Indian moms would come into class every year during Diwali season and let us try on saris, tell us stories, and share traditional food. I had no idea you could make gulab jamuns so easily from slices of bread! Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh wow!
I would love to get my hands on these! It’s like a donut hole!?
I love your helpful tips at the end!
Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday #142!
Michelle
Delicious jamuns…pics are awesome
This sounds much easier than the usual method. I hope to give this a try.
Yumm!! Bread gulab jamun is so much simpler and as tasty!!
Looks lovely CH