ShuddhGaon

Gulgule, the gur and atta fritters of a rainy afternoon

गुलगुले

A thick batter of atta, gur and saunf, dropped into oil a spoonful at a time. Soft inside, dark outside, and made in every north Indian home that owns a kadhai.

A steel plate of deep brown gulgule, one broken open to show the soft inside, beside fennel seeds and a brass bowl of jaggery powder
Representative image of the dish.

Monsoon and festival days · Prep 10 min · Cook 15 min · Total 55 min · Makes About 15 gulgule · North Indian snack

Gulgule are what happens when a batter of atta and gur meets hot oil: small, rough, dark brown fritters with a soft, almost cake-like middle. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan all make them, for festivals, for offerings and for no reason at all on an afternoon when it will not stop raining.

There is nothing to them. That is why the two things that can go wrong deserve a paragraph.

A thick batter and a gentle flame

The batter should fall from the spoon in a lump, not pour in a stream. And because gur browns quickly, a gulgula looks done long before its middle has cooked. Keep the oil at medium to low and break the first one open before you fry the rest.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (about 130 g) Whole wheat flour (atta)
  • ½ cup (about 100 g) ShuddhGaon jaggery powder
  • ½ cup, approximately Warm water
  • 1 tsp Fennel seeds (saunf)
  • A pinch Baking soda
  • About 2 cups Oil or ghee, for frying

Method

  1. Dissolve the jaggery Stir the jaggery powder into the warm water until it has dissolved. Let it cool to room temperature.
  2. Make the batter Put the atta in a bowl and whisk the jaggery water in a little at a time. Stop when you have a thick, smooth batter that drops off the spoon in a lump. You may not need all the water.
  3. Rest it Cover the bowl and leave it for 30 minutes. The atta swells and the gulgule come out softer.
  4. Beat it Add the saunf and the pinch of soda, and beat the batter hard with a spoon for 2 minutes to work some air into it.
  5. Heat the oil Heat the oil in a kadhai on a medium flame. Drop in a little batter: it should rise steadily to the surface, not shoot up and brown at once.
  6. Fry in batches Drop in spoonfuls of batter, six or seven at a time, using a wet spoon or wet fingers. Fry for 5 to 6 minutes on a medium-low flame, turning them, until they are a deep brown all over.
  7. Check one, then drain Break the first one open. If the middle is still wet, lower the flame and fry the next batch a minute longer. Drain them on paper and eat them warm.

With our jaggery

Powder dissolves in warm water in under a minute and leaves a smooth batter. Pieces of block jaggery that have not melted burn into black spots in the oil, so if you are using a block, strain the jaggery water before it goes into the atta. Our gur is unbleached and browns a little sooner than a pale one, which is one more reason to keep the flame low.

Tips from our kitchen

  • If the batter is too thin The gulgule spread flat and drink oil. Whisk in atta a tablespoon at a time until it holds its shape.
  • With banana Mash one ripe banana into the batter and hold back two tablespoons of the water. They come out softer and stay soft the next day.
  • Keeping them They are best the day they are made and good for two days in an airtight box.

Questions people ask

Why are my gulgule hard?
The batter was too stiff or was not rested, or they were fried too long. Rest the batter for 30 minutes, beat it for 2 minutes and fry on a medium-low flame.
Why are my gulgule raw inside?
The oil was too hot. Jaggery browns quickly, so the outside darkens before the middle cooks. Lower the flame and make them smaller.
Are gulgule and gur ke pue the same?
They are close cousins. Both are fried from a batter of atta and gur, but pue are flat, spread in the oil from a thinner batter, while gulgule are round. Gulgula and meethe pakode are other names for gulgule.

Worth reading alongside this

The jaggery this recipe is made with

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