The sweet, the sticky, and the yum! All rolled into one heavenly dessert. Gulab Jamuns are a quintessential Indian dessert which is best served piping hot. Some even like them cold. Elongated or round, both are loved equally and no one can stop after gobbling down just one.
If you have decided to make mithais at home this festive season, this review is for you. We picked six popular brands of gulab jamun mixes in the Indian market and made standardised portions of gulab jamun. The procedure to make them, the quality of the dough, the texture and the taste of the gulab jamuns were considered as deciding parameters. After carefully gauging all the brands, we chose Gits Gulab Jamun Mix as one of the best gulab jamun instant mix brands in India. We also recommend the Chitale Foods Gulab Jamun Mix. Here’s why.
Table of Contents
Gulab Jamun Instant Mix Brands in India – Everything You Need To Know
1. Available sizes
Gulab jamun mixes are available in packs of 165-500 grams.
2. Ingredients
The main ingredients of a gulab jamun mix are –
- Refined wheat flour (maida)
- Milk powder or milk solids
- A form of fat – This can be refined oil, ghee or vanaspati
- A raising agent
- Additionally some brands may or may not add sugar to the mix.
3. Preparing Instructions
The intricate prepping instructions are different for all the brands. The grammage, water quantity, and soaking time can vary. Make sure you read the packaging label carefully.
4. Shelf Life
The shelf life of the gulab jamun mix is between 9-12 months.
Quick Comparison of Gulab Jamun Instant Mix Brands
| Gulab Jamun Brands | Buy Now |
| Gits | Add To Cart |
| Chitale Foods | – |
| MTR | Add To Cart |
| Aashirvaad | Add To Cart |
| Nilon’s | Add To Cart |
| Haldiram’s | – |
Our Review Factors
- Firstly, we made a sugar syrup (chashni) by combining 4 cups of water and 4 cups of sugar. We heated this till the sugar melted and cooked on low flame for 5 minutes and added 1 tsp cardamom powder.
- For making the gulab jamuns, we used the specified mix-water ratio as mentioned on the back of the pack. All doughs were kneaded with the same technique until soft and pliable.
- Once rested, we divided the dough into four equal parts. All gulab jamuns weighed between 10-12 grams each varying from brand to brand.
- We deep fried the gulab jamuns in ghee (clarified butter) until golden brown/dark brown. The frying was done on low-heat.
- Once cooked, we immersed it in the prepared sugar syrup for a specified amount of time (as mentioned on the pack).
- We tasted them warm.
To test the gulab jamun mix brands, we set the following review parameters –
1. Ease Of Preparation + Usability
Homemade mithais require a lot of precision and labour. It’s not an easy task. Which is where dessert mixes come in handy. They aim to reduce the prep time and come with pre-measured ingredients.
How well are the instructions given on the pack? Are they easy to follow? Is the dough easy to knead? Does it require too much effort? Do we require any additional ingredients that are tedious to source or is buying that pack of gulab jamun mix an easy fix?
2. Texture
We checked the texture twice – when it was in the dough stage and once after being cooked.
During the dough stage we checked if it is pliable or not? Is it soft, hard or has too many cracks even after apt kneading?
Once deep fried, how well does the gulab jamun cook? Does it cook till the centre?
Are the gulab jamuns soft or hard? Do they retain their shape once soaked in the sugar-water? How much chashni do they absorb? Do they soak too much in the given time frame?
3. Taste
How tasty are the gulab jamuns once they soak up all the chashni? Are there any aromatics like saffron or cardamom added to the mix?
4. Value For Money + Yield
Most people these days like to buy mithais from sweet shops. There aren’t many people in urban India that would make mithais at home from scratch owing to the time crunch and easy availability of sweets. Which is why the money aspect and preparation time and method is extremely important as parameters.
How many gulab jamuns does a single pack of the mix yield? When compared to the ones available at regular mithai walas, is it value for money?
5. Packaging
How well is the dessert mix packed? Is it packed in a bag/pouch or a box? Is it resealable?
Gulab Jamun Instant Mix Brands – Detailed Review
1. Gits Gulab Jamun Dessert Mix
The dough balls we made using Gits mix were well-shaped and had a medium softness. We advise you to add water gradually as the dough can get runny very quickly. When we deep fried the gulab jamuns they turned dark brown in color. They also soaked up an adequate amount of sugar syrup and almost doubled up in size.
The gulab jamuns were soft yet had a bite to them. Gits has a mild salty flavor which closes the sugary flavor beautifully.
- The gulab jamun dough was easy to knead.
- We liked the balance of sugary sweet syrupy gulab jamuns with a vague saltiness in the background. This enhanced the flavor.
- The gulab jamuns soaked up an adequate amount of sugar syrup and increased in size.
- They did not lose out on their shape or texture when added to the chashni.
- These were soft, yet had a slight bite to them.
Festivities call for lots of mithais. And what better way to celebrate than cooking a batch of fresh gulab jamuns at home? These dessert mixes are best for those who don’t want to get into precise measurements during cooking but want a relatively convenient option.
Gits Instant Gulab Jamun Dessert Mix, Makes 40 per Pack, Pure Veg, Delicious Indian Dessert and Mithai, 600g (Pack of 3, 200g Each)
3% Off2. Chitale Instant Gulab Jamun Mix
The dough balls we made using this mix were the most effortless and smooth. They were smooth and easy to make. When we deep fried them, they did not soak up a lot of ghee and turned a beautiful golden brown in color. They did not break at all.
The gulab jamuns soaked up the sugar syrup very well and doubled up in size. They are very soft and have a bite to them.
- We love the soft texture of the gulab jamuns.
- The dough was the easiest to knead. The dough balls had no cracks.
- They did not soak up any excess ghee.
- The gulab jamuns are delicious.
3. MTR Ready Mix Gulab Jamun
4. Nilon’s Instant Mix Gulab Jamun
5. Aashirvaad Gulab Jamun Instant Mix
Features
- A 500 gram pack is priced at Rs 220/-
- As per the pack, this pack yields 100 gulab jamuns of 20 grams each (25 grams after soaking in syrup).
- Shelf life – 9 months
- Ingredients – Refined wheat flour (maida), Milk solids (20%), Refined palm oil, Raising agent and Acidity regulator
Likes
- The dough is easy to knead.
- The dough balls are smooth.
Dislikes
- The gulab jamuns soaked up too much sugar syrup, thus hampering the texture.
6. Haldiram’s Gulab Jamun Instant Mix
The powder has sooji and cardamom which was not the case for any other mix. While the cardamom flavor was nice, the texture of the gulab jamun was so hard that we couldn’t even break it.
Our Top Picks & Recommendations
A bowl of gulab jamun needs to be two things – soft and delicious!
Texture and taste are both extremely important factors while gauging gulab jamuns, which is why we chose Gits Gulab Jamun Mix as our Top Pick. These were soft and yet retained a bite. The sugary sweetness absorbed by the gulab jamun made them swell up and increase in size and paired wonderfully with the extremely mild saltiness.
The ease of preparation for Chitale, along with the soft texture of the gulab jamuns made this inch ahead from others. We Also Recommend Chitale Foods Gulab Jamun Mix.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the average shelf life of these Gulab Jamun Mixes?
The shelf life of the gulab jamun mixes varies from brand to brand. It is between 9 months to 12 months.
2. Are these products free of preservatives?
There are no preservatives added to any of the above mentioned brands. Apart from one brand, they all contain acidity regulators.
3. Do these mixes contain artificial sweeteners and colours?
There are no added colors or artificial sweeteners in any of the mixes.
4. How many Gulab Jamuns can you make per packet?
The answer for this varies depending on the brand and grams of instant powder in each pouch. On an average a 200 gram pouch of instant mix will yield 35-40 pieces of mid-sized gulab jamuns.
5. What are the other recipes that you can try with these gulab jamun instant mix?
Contrary to what you may believe, gulab jamun mixes can be used for a lot of other recipes. Add a scoop of this mix to your kofta balls to make them richer. It can be used to make the gravy richer as a replacement for khoya as well. It can also be used to make malpuas, rich lauki and gajar halwas.
Final Words
Did you know gulab jamun has variations in different states? Pantua from Bengal is as popular as the gulab jamuns. They might look the same, but actually differ in the way they are prepared.
The tastiest gulab jamuns, with the most balanced flavor, were made using the Gits Gulab Jamun Dessert Mix. This was chosen as our Top Pick. We Also Recommend the mix by Chitale Foods for its soft texture, taste and ease of preparation.
Which is your favorite mithai during the festive season? Write to us in the comment section below.
