Culinary historian, Michael Krondl, in his book, ‘The Donut: History, Recipes, and Lore from Boston to Berlin’ mentioned that Persian invaders brought a ‘round fritter’ to India. The fritter adapted into the modern-day Gulab Jamun, and the word itself has Persian origins. The word ‘Gulab’ means rose, while the word ‘Jamun refers to a local fruit.
Krondl stated that, ‘the Indian recipe is more complex than the Middle East recipe. The Indian recipe requires a mixture of dried and fresh milk thickened with flour, while in the Middle East, it gets fried and soaked in rosewater syrup.’
Another belief is that the origins of Gulab Jamuns origin are from the Arabic dessert, Luqmat-Al-Qadi, which comprises deep fried dough balls dipped in honey, sprinkled in sugar. The translation for Luqmat-Al-Qadi is the– ‘judge’s morsel’, meaning that the dish is sweet enough to sway a judge’s opinion.
Sources:
1.https://www.thebetterindia.com/159662/gulab-jamun-india-food-history-news/
2.http://indianburrp.com/blog/gulab-jamun-a-unique-dessert-with-an-interesting-origin/
3.http://www.indiamarks.com/origin-of-gulab-jamun/ 4. https://recipesofhome.com/gulab-jamun-recipe/