🍡 Gulab jamun

Name: Gulab jamun
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: India · South Asia
Ingredients: 100 g milk powder; 30 g flour; 30 g ghee, melted; ¼ tsp baking soda; About 60 ml water to bind; Syrup: 300 g sugar, 300 ml water, 4 crushed cardamom pods, 1 tbsp rose water; Ghee or oil for frying

Origin: India · South Asia

264kcal

per serving · 80 g

330kcal

per 100 g

4 gProtein5 g / 100 g

10 gFat12 g / 100 g

42 gCarbs52 g / 100 g

Gulab jamun are soft, spongy balls of dough made from milk powder, a little flour and ghee, deep-fried slowly until deep golden brown and then soaked in a warm sugar syrup scented with cardamom and rose water. They absorb the syrup and become juicy and melt-in-the-mouth. They are served warm or at room temperature at weddings, festivals such as Diwali and Eid, and as an everyday sweet.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

Not veganbecause of: milk powder, ghee

Contains glutenbecause of: flour

Contains dairybecause of: milk powder, ghee

Not keto52 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

milk powderflourgheesugarcardamomrose water

Recipe

6 servings50 min

Ingredients

100 g milk powder
30 g flour
30 g ghee, melted
¼ tsp baking soda
About 60 ml water to bind
Syrup: 300 g sugar, 300 ml water, 4 crushed cardamom pods, 1 tbsp rose water
Ghee or oil for frying

Method

Simmer the sugar, water and cardamom for 5 minutes, then add the rose water and keep the syrup warm.
Mix the milk powder, flour and baking soda, rub in the melted ghee, then add water little by little to make a soft, smooth dough.
Roll into about 18 small crack-free balls.
Fry in ghee or oil over low heat, turning constantly, for 6–8 minutes until evenly dark golden.
Drop the hot balls into the warm syrup and soak for at least 1 hour before serving.

How to make it lighter

Eat one or two pieces and leave the extra syrup in the bowl — much of the sugar is in it.
Make the balls smaller: you still get a whole piece, with fewer calories.
Serve with fresh fruit to fill the plate instead of a third jamun.

History

Gulab jamun is eaten across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Its name joins the Persian word gulab, rose water, with jamun, a dark South Asian fruit of similar size and colour; similar syrup-soaked fried dough sweets are found across the Middle East and Central Asia, and the dish is often linked to that wider tradition.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →