Part of the India health ring
ThaliFacts
Sweets & mithai · गुलाब जामुन

Gulab Jamun calories
per piece, not per 100 g

The short answer

One piece, weighed

129kcal 1 medium piece — taken as 40 g — has about 129 calories, with 1.6 g protein, 20.0 g carbohydrate and 4.8 g fat. Two come to 258 kcal, three to 388 kcal.

Per 100 g, gulab jamun carries 323 kcal and 4.0 g protein.

Protein 1.6 g · 4.9% of energy Carbs 20.0 g · 61.7% of energy Fat 4.8 g · 33.3% of energy

SOURCE·ICMR–NIN dietary guidance for Indians + weighed portions·1 medium piece entered at 40 g·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Serving assumed: 1 medium piece ≈ 40 g — khoya ball, fried and soaked in sugar syrup, syrup included. Change the portion and every number below changes with it.

The laboratory The kitchen 100 g 40 g 323 kcal 129 kcal
Drawn to scale — the shaded area of each is proportional to its weight. 1 medium piece weighs 40 g: 40% of the beaker. Publish 323 kcal and you have answered a question nobody asked at a table; publish 129 kcal and you have answered the one that was.

SOURCE·ICMR–NIN dietary guidance for Indians + weighed portions·1 medium piece entered at 40 g·REVIEWED JUL 2026

From a table row to one piece

  1. Read the per-100 g row for gulab jamun out of the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 — analysed on Indian samples, so Indian wheat and Indian milk are not swapped for American ones. It gives 323 kcal and 4.0 g protein per 100 g.
  2. Weigh what is actually served. This site enters 1 medium piece at 40 g (khoya ball, fried and soaked in sugar syrup, syrup included). That weight is the number other calorie sites decline to state, and it is where their answers stop being answers.
  3. Multiply, linearly, and print the working: 323 × 40 ÷ 100 = 129 kcal per piece. Nothing is rounded up, adjusted or smoothed — two pieces are exactly twice one.
  4. Reconcile the energy against its own macronutrients with Atwater factors on every build. A row more than 15% away from 4P + 4C + 9F (20% above 6 g of fibre) stops the build rather than shipping.
per piece   =  per 100 g  ×  serving grams ÷ 100
Gulab Jamun        =    323 kcal ×   40 g ÷ 100  =  129 kcal
energy check       =  4P + 4C + 9F  ±15%  (±20% if fibre ≥ 6 g)

The full method, and where it is weakest →

Gulab Jamun, entered by the portion

The kitchen ledger: one piece at 40 g, then two, then three. Every row is the row above multiplied — nothing is rounded up or quietly adjusted.

Kitchen ledger — gulab jamun by the piece, one piece entered at 40 g. IFCT 2017 · JUL 2026
PortionGramsCaloriesProteinCarbsFatFibre
1 piece40 g 129 kcal1.6 g20.0 g4.8 g0.1 g
2 pieces80 g 258 kcal3.2 g40.0 g9.6 g0.2 g
3 pieces120 g 388 kcal4.8 g60.0 g14.4 g0.2 g
2 pieces with extra syrup95 g 307 kcal3.8 g47.5 g11.4 g0.2 g

SOURCE·ICMR–NIN dietary guidance for Indians + weighed portions·1 medium piece entered at 40 g·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Kept in kilocalories — the "calories" printed on a packet. Carbohydrate is available carbohydrate. Fibre is entered on its own line and is counted in neither the carbohydrate column nor the energy figure.

The 100 g column, kept for the record

Because every other site quotes it, and because you should be able to check our arithmetic against theirs.

Gulab Jamun — the 100 g reference column beside the piece that is actually served. IFCT 2017 · JUL 2026
NutrientPer 100 gPer 1 medium piece (40 g)
Energy323 kcal129 kcal
Protein4.0 g1.6 g
Carbohydrate (available)50.0 g20.0 g
Fat12.0 g4.8 g
Dietary fibre0.2 g0.1 g

SOURCE·IFCT 2017 + published recipe weights·REVIEWED JUL 2026

What it takes to burn off 1 medium piece of gulab jamun

Minutes of activity for a 70 kg adult to spend 129 kcal, using MET values from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. This is a scale check, not a licence — appetite rises with activity and the two do not cancel neatly.

30 min
Walking · easy pace, 4 km/h
25 min
Brisk walking · 5.6 km/h
14 min
Cycling · moderate, 19 km/h
11 min
Running · 8 km/h

SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Calculated as MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 kcal per minute. Full working on the method page, and the whole activity dataset at BurnLab.

Where gulab jamun sits in an Indian plate

Among the 24 sweets & mithai entries on this site, gulab jamun ranks 18th for protein (4.0 g per 100 g) and 14th for energy density (323 kcal per 100 g). The protein leader in the group is peanut chikki at 13.9 g.

Protein supplies only 5% of its energy, so treat it as an energy food rather than a protein food. There is very little fibre here — 0.2 g per 100 g.

A realistic day matters more than any single dish. If you are building a meal, the thali builder adds several foods and their real servings together in one total.

Questions

How many calories are in 1 medium piece?

About 129 kcal for 1 medium piece, taken as 40 g (khoya ball, fried and soaked in sugar syrup, syrup included). Two come to roughly 258 kcal and three to 388 kcal. Per 100 g, gulab jamun carries 323 kcal.

How much protein is in gulab jamun?

4.0 g per 100 g, which works out to 1.6 g in 1 medium piece. That is 5% of the energy in this food, and ranks 18th of 24 in the sweets & mithai group on this site.

Is gulab jamun good for weight loss?

At 323 kcal per 100 g it is energy-dense, so the portion decides everything. Protein is low, so eat it alongside a protein source rather than on its own. No single food makes or breaks a diet; the total for the day does.

Why does this differ from other calorie sites?

Two reasons. First, most sites publish a per-100 g figure from a US database and leave you to guess what a roti or a katori weighs; this page states the serving weight up front. Second, home-cooked Indian food varies enormously with oil and ghee — the figures here assume khoya ball, fried and soaked in sugar syrup, syrup included. A restaurant version can be 30 to 60% higher.

Where this number comes from

From the composition tables, not re-checked against a named row. This site does not claim a carbohydrate basis for this figure. Either it is a hand-entered composite with no stored ingredient list to derive one from, or the named table row disagrees with what is published here by too much to say which basis the number is on.

Every food on this site carries this label. What each one means, and how many foods sit behind each, is set out on the method page.

Nutrient values are averages for the stated preparation, based on the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR–NIN) and standard recipe analysis. Energy is reconciled against the macronutrients with Atwater factors on every build. General information only — not medical or nutrition advice. Home-cooked Indian food varies enormously with oil, ghee and portion size; every value here is an average for a stated serving, with the assumption shown.

SOURCE·IFCT 2017 + published recipe weights·REVIEWED JUL 2026

The people behind these sites

Follow the build

This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.

Following changes nothing here — every page stays open, with no account and no wall.

See all 10 sites in this family, with what each one answers

Published by

Amit Sharma

Auckland real-estate agent and marketer. Builds free, sourced data tools.