Gulgule: Small Fritters That Puff in the Oil and Smell of Fennel
Make a banana and whole wheat batter a little thicker than pakoda batter. Drop it into oil over medium heat and fry it slowly until every side is an even golden brown. Use whole fennel seeds, because they carry the aroma.
A spoonful of thick, speckled batter goes into a deep pan of oil over medium heat. At first it sits pale among small bubbles. Then it puffs into an uneven little ball, turns light golden on its underside, and is turned over until it is golden brown all over. Mashed banana and sugar sweeten the batter, whole wheat flour gives it body, and the whole fennel seeds give these small fritters their aroma.
These are gulgule. In the recipe this article follows, Dassana Amit of Dassana's Veg Recipes describes them as a North Indian sweet and places this version in a North Indian and Punjabi context. The author learned it from their mother-in-law while living in Delhi and made it for the family on rainy days. That is one household's memory as the author tells it. It is not a rule about when people across North India eat gulgule.
What Gulgule Are: One Small Round Sweet, Many Household Versions
Gulgule is the plural and gulgula the singular. Dassana Amit also gives pua, pooda and puda as Punjabi names for the same sweet. The version here is a family recipe: whole wheat flour, banana, a sweetener and fennel, mixed into a thick batter and deep-fried in spoonfuls as round, doughnut-like fritters.
Similar names do not always mean the same dish. In the same article, the author separates gulgule from malpua, which is described as a flat pancake that is shallow-fried and glazed with sugar syrup. Gulgule are dropped balls of batter, fried until puffed, with no syrup. Ananya Jagoorie, writing for GOYA about an Uttarakhand family recipe, also says gulgule are called pua or pude in that setting. So the names overlap in some regions and households. This article does not treat every pua as the same recipe; it covers only the round gulgule described below.
The version in this article
The amounts and method below follow one recipe only: the 1x recipe card from Dassana Amit's "Gulgule Recipe | Pua Recipe (Gulgula)." Where that recipe offers a choice, this version uses chopped banana, white sugar, regular salt, and the optional green cardamom. The card lists 4 servings, 5 minutes of prep, 20 minutes of cooking and 25 minutes in total. It does not say how many fritters the batter makes, so no piece count is given here. The 20 minutes covers all the cooking on the card. It is not a frying time for one piece or one batch.
Sekai Gohan has not kitchen-tested this recipe. The amounts and steps are written as they appear on that recipe card, kept in its own cup and spoon units without conversion.
For more dishes from the same country, see our India page.
Ingredients: 4 Servings, in Cups and Spoons
How much water you need depends on how fine or coarse your flour is. Start with ½ cup and add the rest a little at a time.
Equipment
- A mixing bowl
- A fork or potato masher
- A spoon for dropping the batter
- A deep pan, wok or kadai for frying
- A slotted spoon
- Kitchen paper for draining
- A deep-fry thermometer (optional)
Choosing Flour, Fennel, Sugar and Oil
Whole wheat flour. Check that the label says whole wheat or whole grain wheat flour. Indian atta is also a good choice. Plain white flour is not the same ingredient, so look for whole wheat flour first. Flours are milled finer or coarser, and that changes how much water the batter takes. This is why the water amount is a range.
Fennel seeds. Use whole fennel seeds, sold as fennel or saunf in Indian groceries. Do not replace them with cumin, anise or ground fennel. The aroma of this version depends on them.
Sugar. This version uses white sugar. Raw sugar and jaggery are other possible choices, covered under variations below. Do not assume they will taste the same.
Baking powder. Use baking powder, not baking soda.
Oil. Choose a neutral-flavored oil with a high smoke point, such as sunflower or avocado oil. Use whatever amount your pan needs for deep frying.
Wheat. This batter is built on whole wheat flour. There is no tested gluten-free version of this recipe.
Method: Mash, Mix, and Fry Over Medium Heat
The batter should be a little thicker than pakoda batter. Keep the oil at medium heat so the fritters brown evenly. Banana batter darkens faster than plain batter, so judge each batch by its color.
Serving: Hot or Warm, with a Cup of Chai
Dassana Amit suggests serving gulgule hot or warm with Indian chai. The chai goes alongside the fritters; it is not part of the batter. Ananya Jagoorie's GOYA article describes another serving setting for that family's Uttarakhand version: gulgule made for special days and eaten with evening chai, with rabri also mentioned. These are the ways each writer describes eating them, not required ways to serve them.
Too Thick, Too Dark, Stuck to the Pan: Fixing Problems
| What happens | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The batter is stiff and hard to drop | Not enough water for your flour | Add water a little at a time until the batter is just thicker than pakoda batter. Coarser or finer flour can need more or less than 11 tablespoons |
| The batter is runny | Too much water added at once | Add the water gradually next time. This recipe gives no set amount of flour to add back, so take care not to go past the thickness you want |
| The outside is dark but the inside is not cooked | Oil too hot | Lower the heat and bring the oil back to medium, 177–190°C (350–375°F) |
| The fritters stick to the bottom of the pan | Oil not hot enough, or too many in the pan | Let the oil come back up to temperature and fry fewer at a time |
| They brown faster than you expect | The sugars in the banana caramelize | Browning is normal for banana batter and is not the same as burning. Lower the heat if the color moves too quickly |
Color is your main guide, but how a fritter looks does not prove that its center is cooked. If they keep coloring too fast, lower the heat rather than taking them out early.
Variations: Other Choices in the Same Recipe
The recipe followed here offers several alternatives. Each one makes a slightly different gulgule from the version above.
- Sweetener. Dassana Amit lists raw sugar, white sugar or jaggery, 6 tablespoons, to taste. This article uses white sugar. Jaggery or raw sugar is a different choice, and the flavor will not necessarily be the same.
- Without banana. The author lists banana as optional. Without it, the author says to use about ½ cup sugar and a little more water, but gives no exact amount of extra water.
- Without cardamom. Cardamom is optional in the author's recipe. Leaving it out changes the aroma.
- Baking powder. The author says gulgule can be made without baking powder but will be less soft, and that you can use up to 1 teaspoon for fluffier fritters. This version uses ½ teaspoon.
- Ghee, or a paniyaram (appe) pan. The author mentions these as other options but gives no amounts, times or temperatures for them, so no separate method is given here.
Gulgule Across Families and Regions
Even under the same name, gulgule change from one kitchen to another: some use banana, some use jaggery syrup, and some use a batter left to ferment overnight. The recipe in this article is one household version among them.
Chef Reetu Uday Kugaji describes a sweet gulgule made at home. The chef also says that Punjabi households make a dropping-consistency batter from sieved whole wheat flour, strained jaggery syrup and crushed fennel, then fry small portions until golden and crisp. In the chef's own version, baking powder is left out by preference and banana is an optional addition.
Ananya Jagoorie's article for GOYA tells of a grandmother's recipe from Uttarakhand. There, a smooth batter of whole wheat flour, sweetener and water or milk is left overnight. Lightly crushed fennel goes in the next morning before frying.
These versions sit beside the one in this article; they are not mixed into it. Their amounts, resting times and oil handling belong to their own recipes. None of these sources gives a date, inventor or place of origin for gulgule, so this article does not offer a history of the dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it gulgula or gulgule?
Both. Dassana Amit gives gulgula as the singular and gulgule as the plural. Since they are usually made and served in batches, gulgule is the form you will see most often.
Are pua and gulgule the same thing?
Sometimes the names overlap. Dassana Amit gives pua, pooda and puda as Punjabi names. The GOYA article says gulgule are called pua or pude in its Uttarakhand family setting. Still, not every dish called pua follows this recipe. This article covers only the round, dropped-batter fritters.
How are gulgule different from malpua?
Dassana Amit describes gulgule as deep-fried round fritters, much like small doughnut balls. Malpua is described as a flat pancake that is shallow-fried and glazed with sugar syrup. Gulgule here get no syrup.
Can I leave out the banana?
Yes. The author's recipe makes banana optional. Without it, use about ½ cup sugar and a little extra water, adjusting the water by eye because no exact amount is given. The ingredient table above stays as the banana version.
Does the batter need to rest?
No. The recipe followed here goes straight from mixing to frying. The overnight rest in the GOYA article belongs to that family's version.
How many fritters does it make?
The recipe card says 4 servings but does not give a number of fritters. The count depends on how big your spoonfuls are.
How should I store or reheat leftovers?
The recipe gives no storage or reheating guidance, so none is offered here. It suggests serving gulgule hot or warm.
Can I make them gluten-free?
This recipe is built on whole wheat flour, and no gluten-free substitute has been tested for it. If you need to avoid wheat, this version is not suitable as written.
Sources
- Dassana Amit, "Gulgule Recipe | Pua Recipe (Gulgula)," Dassana's Veg Recipes. The only basis for the recipe in this article: ingredients, amounts, method, oil temperature, 4 servings, prep and cook times, and the alternatives listed under variations. Also the source for the names gulgula, gulgule, pua, pooda and puda, the distinction from malpua, and the author's memory of learning the dish in Delhi. https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/gulgule-recipe/
- Chef Reetu Uday Kugaji, "Gulgule." A separate home-style version and the chef's description of how Punjabi households make gulgule with whole wheat flour, jaggery syrup and fennel. Used only for comparison; none of its amounts are used in this recipe. https://chefreetuudaykugaji.com/blog/2020/06/08/gulgule/
- Ananya Jagoorie, "Gulgule, A Diwali Treat from Uttarakhand," GOYA. A grandmother's Uttarakhand family version with an overnight batter, the names pua and pude in that setting, and the article's description of gulgule on special days and with evening chai. Used only for comparison and context. https://www.goya.in/blog/a-diwali-donut-treat-from-uttarakhand
