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Gulgula (Mini Donut)

Gulgula (Mini Donuts)

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Manjula Jain

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Gulgula (Mini Donuts)

Gulgula (Indian Mini Donuts)

Gulgulas are like lightly sweetened mini donuts. In India these are made for special occasions. This is a quick and easy to make recipe. They make good finger food even for the kids on the go. This is an easy recipe to make when you are craving for something sweet.
5 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp oil
  • 2 tbsp yogurt dahi curd
  • 3 tbsp water approx.

Instructions
 

  • Mix whole-wheat flour, yogurt, sugar, fennel seeds, and oil, add water slowly as needed to make the thick consistency batter.
  • Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat.
  • The frying pan should have about 1 inch of oil. (To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in oil. The batter should come up but not change color right away).
  • Slowly drop 1 teaspoon of batter at a time in to the oil. Don’t over crowd the frying pan.
  • Fry the Gulgulas golden brown all sides, turning them occasionally. It will take 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Remove the gulgulas and place over a paper towel so the excess oil is absorbed.

Notes

Tips, If oil is not hot enough gulgulas will stick to the bottom of the frying pan.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Comments

52 responses to “Gulgula (Mini Donut)”

  1. Bharri

    Can we make this dish in aebelskiver pan (one which has 5 rounds)?

    1. Manjula Jain

      Bhari, I have never used aebelskiver pan, but try I think it should work

  2. Coomar

    Yummy. If you add half of banana..mash to the mixture it will be yummy also, my Nani made it this wsy.

    1. Manjula Jain

      Coomer, I always like the variations, will try

  3. Sania wasif

    No baking soda?

    1. Manjula Jain

      Sania, no baking soda

  4. Hamid

    Dear Manjula,

    I don’t have yoghurt at the moment can i still make the gulgulay? Can i add a fee drops of vanilla extract into the dough? Can i use gur sugar instead of white sugar? If so how much spoons/cups?

    1. Manjula Jain

      Hamid, yes

  5. LG

    Thank you so much for this recipe! I was delighted with how it tasted – the fennel gave such a great flavor (and I’m not usually a fan) – and how easy it was to make. One thing that wasn’t “perfect” was that when I dropped the batter into the hot oil, some of the batter would sort of float off and the balls didn’t stay solid and perfect like yours. Does this mean my oil was too cool, too hot, or maybe my batter was too thin? I would love to hear your thoughts!

    1. Manjula Jain

      LG,
      I think batter was to thin

  6. Bhavna

    Thanku so much for the perfect recipie now its super easy to make thm almost anytime!

  7. shaista

    Hi manju di, yrsterday I made badam barfi which is very delicious. All my neighbour and my kids like it very much especially my husband.thank u so……much.

    And more …..

  8. maya

    ur recips r awesome…can u plz post neyyappam(unniyappam) recipe…
    thanks,regards

  9. Meenakshi

    I used self raising wholemeal flour instead of atta. Made the Gulgula more crispy and lighter.

  10. Afroz

    We prepare Gulgulas during Ramzan Eid and simply put them as dumplings in SheerKhurma and eat. The recipe has been in our family from generations. The only difference is that we use Jaggery instead of sugar. Nevertheless, this recipe will also taste as good!

  11. Gayatri Rakesh

    Hey your recipies are awesome… Can you tell me how to make heavy cream for whipping at home….?

    1. Stajah

      Heavy cream and whipping cream are the same thing.

  12. Sarthak

    Can we serve it with something like a cream or something? And what can we do to improve its presentation?

    1. Manjula Jain

      Sarthak
      Serve with chocolate, or ice cream, or with whipping cream or coconut powder.

      1. Meenakshi

        Or replace fennel seeds with vanilla in the mixture. Let teh gulgulas come to room temperature after frying and sprinkle some icing sugar and dried lavender flowers. The flavour is different, but presentation enhances a lot.

  13. Archana

    Wonderful! My kids loved it. Thanks.

  14. Caroline

    Do you have a nice dip to go with Gulgula

  15. Tania

    Hi,
    I’m a grad student living abroad and often follow your site to make food, which turns outs really yummy!
    Could you please clarify
    1.whether yogurt should be used? I couldn’t find in the method.
    2. Can I use all purpose flour, instead of whole-wheat flour?

  16. Rajdeep Kaur

    Hi Manjula Aunty,

    Ohh they were just too good….i made twice already…everyone loved it….thnx alot

  17. Lyan A.

    They were great! Tip: Drop batter into pan with oil using a TEASPOON. Also, fennel seeds taste like licorice… 😀

  18. Lyan A.

    Will make these soon. Best wishes to you and Alex. 🙂

  19. jasveer kaur

    dear manjula ji
    there is a newe recipe of gulgulas for you ,
    1/2 cup whole wheat flour
    400 grm goud(jaggery)
    1 tabelspoon fennel seeds
    3 tea spoon soyabin oil
    2 cup of water
    1/2teaspoon
    oil for frying

    how to make:-
    1) take a steel container add water and jaggery to it put it on te high flame till the jaggery compeletly mix into water.
    2)now take another container add ,flour,oil,fennel seeds ,baking soda to it.
    3)now add this all Ingredients in that jaggerywaterted container mix it well
    4) now heat the oil for frying the gulgulas .let them became brown take them out of the pan and surve it
    (note :- this recipe will make 30 -40 gulgulas)

    1. Raman

      Thanks a lot Jasveer,your recipe reminded me the way my mami ji use to make gulgule, when i was a kid and use to visit my nanke during vacations.thanks a lot will try this soon.

  20. Manjula Mukund

    Dear Manjulaji,

    I would like to know the recipe for a sponge cake without using eggs and without an electric oven. How can I prepare in pressure cooker. Please reply.

    Regards,

    Manjula

  21. DJ

    I just tried your recipe. This was my first attempt at making gulgulas. They taste very good but my finish product looked nothing like yours. Ms. Manjula, I was wondering what would cause gulgulas to explode in half or into little pieces? My gulgulas would not hold together. What could cause this problem?

    1. Manjula Jain

      DJ,
      May be you added too much yogurt or oil.

      1. DJ

        Namaste Ms. Manjual. You were so right, I added to much yogurt and oil while making gulgula.

        May you and Alex continue to be blessed by loving family members and friends during your royal treatment throughout India.

  22. sujata

    Thanks for this recipe Manjula.

    I searched for Mango-ginger recipes found none.
    could you please give some – chutney or something.
    Thanks

  23. santhi

    hi mam..
    i tried dis recipe strday n it came out wel. thnku so much.. 🙂

  24. monika

    hi aunty,
    is yogurt really necessary in this recipie? what can i substitute it with ?

    1. Manjula Jain

      Monika,
      Do without yogurt or use few spoons of milk.

  25. Lakshmi

    Dear Manjula ji,

    I have tried several of your recipes and they all cam out good. I am collecting compliments which really should go to you. My questions with this recipe-
    1- can we sprinkle some powdered sugar?
    2- can this be served at room temperature ? if so how long can I store it at room temperature?

    1. Manjula Jain

      Lakshmi,
      Thank you, you can sprinkle some powdered sugar. This can be served at room temperature and can be saved at room temprature for few days.

  26. Jen

    (Do you prefer to be called Manjula, Manjula Aunty, or Manjula-ji?)

    Have you any recipes that use any of these: jicama, mushrooms, garlic as a main ingredient, or any toddler food recipes?

    Thank you for sharing your wonderful cuisine with the world! It is an honor to learn from you –

    Jen

    1. Manjula Jain

      Jen,
      Majula will work.

  27. priya

    hi aunty
    I tried golgulas yesterday. It came out very well. My husband and daughter liked them a lot. Thanks for the recipe.
    Can u provide me the recipes using tofu

  28. Daniela

    Manjula

    Thank you so much for all your recipes, they have helped me a lot and I have tasted new flavours =)

    Again Thank You So Much

    Greetings from Colombia

    1. Jersey Girl

      Hi Manjula , can I use American type whole wheat flour, or does the ATa flour work better? I can get it. Mary

      1. Manjula Jain

        Jersey,
        You can use American type whole wheat flour.

  29. Madhulika Dev

    Thankyou very much for the wonderful recipe “Gulgula”. You brought back my childhood memories. In the age of cakes, baklava and tiramisu i totally forgot “Gulgula” .

    My mother used to make them. She said “those moms are very lucky whose kids like gulgula, because they are super easy to make and taste delicious.”

    Once again thankyou !!

    Try some more rural,interior recipes like this.

  30. pradnya

    Nice and simple reciepe. My mother use to make these kind of simple and delicious reciepes. I like yours reciepes just like my mothers. I will definately try this one. Thank you.

  31. Meena

    Aunty ji, Nice to know other people make gulgulay. I thought sirf mummy makes. Thank you for sharing recipe.

  32. alpana

    Hi Aunty,

    You have used yellow food colour in your chum chum recipe.
    Can you please tell me what brand food colour is that. I could not find any food colour in the Indian store in NJ.

    Thanks,

  33. saritha

    You didn’t mention anything about the yogurt in the method!!

  34. Asifa

    I didnt know Gulgulay was made in other parts of India. I thought it was a South Indian dish.. My mum uses yoghurt, sugar and very ripe bananas. If you don’t mind the oil content, it is delicious. I wish there was a way to make this without deep frying it.

  35. Sanghmitra Agarwal

    Respected Aunty,

    I love to cook and visiting your website has become my habit, but today when I saw the latest recipe (Gulgula) it brought tears to my eyes. I had been thinking about gulgulas just a few days back and wondering how my mother used to get that little sour taste in it. I couldn’t decide whether it was yogurt or did she ferment it.
    I was very sad when I couldn’t recall because my mother passed away a few months ago and I thought that I will never get to know how she made it. My husband said that if I asked my mother, she will find a way to give me the recipe. He was correct, my mother sent me the recipe through you.

    Thank you very much,
    Sanghmitra

  36. Vani

    Simple and nice recipe.. my mom prepares it using jackfruit pulp / babanas. I didn’t knew that it can be prepared without that pulp. I will try this recipe sometime 🙂

5 from 3 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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