Gulgule (singular Gulgula) are crispy, fluffy, soft, fried Indian doughnuts made with whole wheat flour, banana, sugar or jaggery and fennel seeds. It is a special and unique sweet from the North Indian cuisine and is also referred to as pua, pooda, or puda in Punjabi.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Snacks, Sweets
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Ingredients

  • ½ cup bananas ((chopped) or 1 small banana)
  • 6 tablespoons raw sugar (or white sugar or jaggery - add as per taste)
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon green cardamom powder (- optional)
  • 1 pinch salt (- pink salt or regular salt)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 8 to 11 tablespoons water (or add as required, read point no 1 in the notes below)
  • oil (as required, for deep frying)

Method

Making batter

  1. Take chopped bananas and sugar in a mixing bowl. Mash very well with a fork or vegetable masher. Mix the sugar with the bananas as you go on mashing and ensure that the sugar granules dissolve.
  2. Add the wheat flour, fennel seeds, cardamom powder and salt to the mashed banana and sugar mixture.
  3. Add half a cup of water first. Mix well and add more water if required to make a batter that is neither too thick nor too thin. Check the point no 1 in the notes section of this recipe card for tips on batter consistency and adding water.
  4. The batter should be slightly thicker than a pakoda batter.

Frying gulgule

  1. In a deep pan or wok or kadai heat oil. Let the oil become hot.
  2. Drop spoonfuls of the batter in the hot oil. Fry the gulgule on a medium heat.
  3. Note that the oil should not be less hot, otherwise the batter may stick. The oil should also not be very hot, otherwise the gulgule may get burnt.
  4. Do not overcrowd the pan. You can easily fry 8 to 12 gulgule at a time depending on the size of the pan or kadai. While frying if the oil becomes too hot, then reduce the heat.
  5. The gulgule will puff while frying. When one side is light golden, gently turn over and fry the other side.
  6. Keep on turning and frying them till they are golden brown. Remove them and place on kitchen paper towels for the extra oil to be absorbed.
  7. When frying, they may stick, but get separated once browned.
  8. Serve the Gulgule or Pua hot or warm with Indian chai.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.