Japanese FM wraps up India trip with gulab jamun treat: Tracing the legacy of this iconic sweet dish

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi wrapped up his India visit on a sweet note with a serving of gulab jamun and South Indian-style coffee after attending the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi yesterday.

Sharing moments from his final stop before returning to Japan, Motegi posted on X about enjoying India’s beloved dessert alongside a traditional cup of coffee.

Speaking about India’s coffee culture, he noted that while tea remains widely associated with the country, coffee too holds an important place, especially in South India. He also highlighted India’s position among the world’s top coffee-producing nations.

Along with coffee, Motegi enjoyed a beloved Indian dessert, gulab jamun that drew people’s attention online.

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Soft, syrup-soaked and rich with flavour, the dessert brought a renewed attention towards Indian sweets and its culinary heritage.

Gulab jamun remains one of India’s most loved desserts

Few Indian desserts enjoy the popularity and emotional connection that gulab jamun does.

Sneaking one from the kitchen before guests arrived, sharing a bowl with cousins during festivals or ending a celebratory meal with the warm dessert are experiences familiar to millions across South Asia. Today, it is equally popular across the globe popularised by the diaspora and famous Indian Restaurants.

The sweet derives its name from its resemblance to the jamun fruit, also known as black plum.

Traditionally, gulab jamun is prepared using khoya or milk solids mixed with refined flour to form a soft dough. These dough balls are deep-fried until golden brown and then soaked in sugar syrup infused with rose water, saffron and cardamom.

Its appeal lies in the contrast between the lightly crisp exterior and the soft interior that absorbs the fragrant syrup almost perfectly.

The history of gulab jamun and its Persian connection

While gulab jamun is today considered one of the defining desserts of the Indian subcontinent, food historians believe its roots stretch back centuries through Persian and West Asian culinary traditions.

One of the strongest historical links connects gulab jamun to the West Asian dessert luqmat al-qadi, which translates to “The Judge’s Morsel”. This dish consisted of deep-fried dough balls soaked in sweet syrup flavoured with rose water. Similar versions of the dessert were also found across parts of the Arab world.

Although the preparation resembles gulab jamun, the original Persian recipe used a different style of dough and did not include khoya, which later became central to the Indian version.

Over time, cooks in India adapted the dessert using milk solids, while also enhancing the syrup with saffron, cardamom and rose water. This gradual transformation eventually gave rise to the gulab jamun known today.

The name itself reflects this cultural fusion. The word “gulab” comes from the Persian words gul meaning flower and ab meaning water, referring to rose water. “Jamun” refers to the Indian fruit that resembles the dessert in shape and colour.

Ancient Indian texts also mention similar sweets

Some historians also point towards early Indian texts that describe sweets resembling gulab jamun long before the Mughal period.

Culinary historian Michael Krondl in his book Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert (2011) mentions that the 12th-century Sanskrit text Manasollasa described fried fritter balls made from chenna and rice flour soaked in cardamom-scented syrup.

However, these early Indian recipes lacked rose water syrup, which later became one of the defining features of gulab jamun under Persian influence.

Legends surrounding Shah Jahan and royal kitchens

Several popular legends also surround the origins of gulab jamun. One widely repeated story claims that the dessert was accidentally created by a royal chef serving Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

While there is little historical evidence supporting the claim, such stories continue to add to the mystique surrounding the iconic sweet.

Regional variations keep the dessert alive across India

Over centuries, several regional versions of gulab jamun have emerged across India.

Kala jamun is a darker and richer variation, fried longer to achieve a deep brown exterior and a slightly caramelised flavour. In Bengal, sweets such as pantua and ledikeni offer local adaptations of the dessert.

Despite these variations, the essence of gulab jamun remains unchanged. It continues to symbolise celebration, hospitality and comfort food across generations.