A popular dessert all over India—indeed, much of South Asia—gulab jamuns are little golden-brown balls (or ovals), made of milk solids and flour, that are deep-fried, coated in a sugary syrup, and served warm. Dense and sweet, with a bready exterior and creamy insides, they remind us of delicious sugar-soaked doughnut holes. What’s not to love about that?
Where: Plenty of sweets shops offer gulab jamun, but we found our most satisfying one at the end of a rich Punjabi meal at Pindi (2338-7932; 16, Pandara Rd. Market, map). This is the kind of sweet you can make room for even if you’re stuffed to the gills.
When: Daily, noon-12:30am
Order: Pindi is not a cheap restaurant, so at least the gulab jamuns (two for 95 rupees) are large and round, given the royal treatment in a silver chalice. They’re served perfectly hot and in just enough syrup, so they’re sweet but not cloying. As to what precedes dessert, this place has good but pricey Punjabi fare, including terrific tandoori chicken.
Alternatively: Try any sweets shop, like Haldiram’s (multiple branches including 1454/2, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, map) or Shyam Sweets (2326-8087; 112, Chawri Bazaar, Old Delhi, map). Also check out this surprisingly scientific roundup of Delhi’s best gulab jamuns in the Hindustan Times.
