Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (2024)

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This Jamaican Festival recipe is a homemade version of the popular Jamaican snack. Made with a few simple ingredients, this delicious fried sweet dough is the perfect side dish for your favorite Jamaican recipes.

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (1)

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When I say festival, I don’t mean a party. But then again, it’s always a party when I show up with my homemade festival! Ha! All jokes aside, this Jamaican festival recipe is the truth and I worked on it to make sure it was as delicious as the ones I had as a child.

Jamaican festival is a sweet fried dough made with cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and milk. The dough comes together quite easily and all you have to do is deep fry it. It goes well with some of my favorite Jamaican recipes like rasta pasta, jerk chicken, ackee and saltfish, or escovitch fish.

How to make Jamaican Festival

First, gather your ingredients. You’ll want to start heating a heavy bottom pot of oil that has at least 3 inches of oil in it or use a deep fryer if you have one. Turn the heat over medium heat until the temperature reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (2)

Prepare your festival dough by adding the all-purpose flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and stirring to combine.

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (3)

Add the vanilla extract and milk and stir until the dough comes together. Then use your hands to lightly form the mixture into a ball.

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Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into long oval shapes. Make about 12 dumplings.

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Once the oil has reached the temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, fry the dough on all sides, until golden brown. This should take about 4-6 minutes.

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Remove dough and drain off any excess grease.

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Serve and enjoy.

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What does festival taste like?

Festival is like a combination of sweet cornbread and hushpuppies mixed together. It’s light and fluffy and sweetened to perfection.

Notes on Jamaican Festival

  • Make sure your oil is set to the proper temperature for deep frying. I use a thermometer to ensure my oil is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Festival is best eaten when it’s made. The dough can be made a day ahead.
  • The amount of milk added may depend on the brand of flour used. You may need a little more or a little less. Slowly stir in the milk until the flour is moistened and can easily form into a ball of dough.
  • I don’t recommend making festival in an air fryer. I tried and it was not as good.

Looking for other Jamaican recipes? Try these out:

  • Jamaican Fried Dumpling
  • Oxtail
  • Curry Chicken
  • Curry Goat
  • Brown Stew Chicken

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (9)

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4.89 from 17 votes

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe

This Jamaican Festival recipe is a homemade version of the popular Jamaican snack. Made with a few simple ingredients, this delicious fried sweet dough is the perfect side dish for your favorite Jamaican recipes.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Caribbean

Keyword jamaican festival, jamaican festival recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes minutes

Total Time 16 minutes minutes

Servings 12 dumplings

Calories 117kcal

Author Tanya

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup fine cornmeal
  • 6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup milk a little less or more may be needed, see notes
  • Oil for deep frying*

Instructions

  • Heat a heavy bottom pot of oil that has at least 3 inches of oil in it or use a deep fryer if you have one. Turn the heat over medium heat until the temperature reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • Add the all-purpose flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine.

  • Add the vanilla extract and milk and stir until the dough comes together. Then use your hands to lightly form the mixture into a ball.

  • Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into long oval shapes. Make about 12 dumplings.

  • Once the oil has reached the temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, fry the dough on all sides, until golden brown. This should take about 4-6 minutes.

  • Remove dough and drain off any excess grease. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

  • Make sure your oil is set to the proper temperature for deep frying. I use a thermometer to ensure my oil is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Festival is best eaten when it’s made. The dough can be made a day ahead.
  • The amount of milk added may depend on the brand of flour used. You may need a little more or a little less. Slowly stir in the milk until the flour is moistened and can easily form into a ball of dough.
  • I don’t recommend making festival in an air fryer. I tried and it was not as good.

Nutrition

Calories: 117kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 126mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 25IU | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg

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Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the Jamaican festival made of? ›

It is a dough made with wheat flour, Cornmeal, baking powder, salt, milk powder unflavored milk or evaporated milk, sugar and water, then fried in a neutral cooking oil and served hot. The finished festival should be crispy on the outside while soft and fluffy on the inside.

What's the difference between festival and dumpling? ›

The difference is that festivals contain a noticeable amount of cornmeal, sugar, and cinnamon. Traditional fried dumplings can be made with or without cornmeal but do not contain sugar or cinnamon. Festival is usually served with spicy fish, jerk pork or chicken, and other spicy meat dishes.

What are Jamaican dumplings made of? ›

The dumplings are typically made of all-purpose flour, though sometimes cornmeal is added. Shaping them is a fun and quick project that kids can take part in too.

Why are my Jamaican dumplings hard? ›

When making dumplings, you don't need to sieve the flour. Baking powder: When using plain flour, you must use baking powder to help make the dumplings soft. The dumplings won't swell without the baking powder, and they will turn out hard.

Why do Jamaicans not eat pork? ›

Seventh Day Adventists and some other Sabbath keepers don't eat it. They say it is forbidden by God, which they say is in the Bible. Rastafarians also have this belief. Some ministers of religion interpret it that because the law is in the Old Testament it is meant only for Jews so therefore Christians can eat it.

How to make a festival at home? ›

Get people to bring their tents and set them up out the way or, if your budget allows, erect a festival-style teepee which you can all gather under. Party On Top Tip: Mosquito nets can be used to create makeshift teepees and, with a bit of flair and style, can really look the part!

What is Bammy, Jamaica? ›

Bammy is a traditional Jamaican cassava flatbread descended from the simple flatbread eaten by the Arawaks, Jamaica's original inhabitants. Today, it is produced in many rural communities and sold in stores and by street vendors in Jamaica and abroad.

Are dumplings fried or baked? ›

A dumpling is a small mass of dough that can be boiled, fried, baked, or steamed. There are a ton of dumpling varieties out there, from pork- and cabbage-filled Chinese dumplings to cheesy Polish dumplings.

Is Johnny Cake and festival the same? ›

Festival is a uniquely Jamaican fried dumpling, completely different in texture and flavor to a Johnny cake, another Jamaican fried dumpling.

What kind of flour is used for dumplings? ›

For dumplings, 🌾 all-purpose flour 🌾 is typically the best type to use. It has a moderate protein content, which gives the dumplings a tender and soft texture. 🍴 If you want a slightly denser dumpling, you can use 🌾 cake flour 🌾 or 🌾 self-rising flour 🌾, which have lower protein contents.

Why do Jamaicans eat dumplings? ›

Fried dumplings have their origins in Jamaican colonization and slavery, where workers would pack fried biscuits to take with them on long journeys.

What are the 3 components of dumplings? ›

Dumplings are made from a simple dough consisting of all-purpose flour, water, and salt. The shaped dumplings are either fried in a pan until golden brown or boiled in a soup.

How to make dumplings more juicy? ›

Hand-mincing meat and adding more pork belly results in the juiciest dumplings. Traditionally, some Chinese cuisine uses hand minced meat for their dishes. For example, lots of dim sum items like siu mai, pork buns, beef meatball, and more use hand minced meat to control the texture and fat content of the dish!

Can you overcook homemade dumplings? ›

Yes, dumplings that are overcooked will begin to fall apart and disintegrate into the soup, so try to stick to the cooking time. I always use a timer.

How do you know when boiled dumplings are done? ›

Cover and bring to a vigorous boil. Add roughly one cup of cold water and return to boil while covered. Repeat this step again. The dumplings will be completely cooked and ready when they float on the surface of the boiling water.

What are the ingredients in the Grace festival mix? ›

Enriched Wheat Flour (Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Fructose, Yellow Corn Meal, Leavening Agents (Monocalcium Phosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Salt.

What is Bammy made of? ›

In the 1990s, the United Nations and the Jamaican government established a program to revive bammy production and to market it as a modern, convenient food product. Bammy is made from bitter cassava (also called yuca and manioc in other American cultures).

Why is it called Jamaican festival? ›

These slightly sweet fritters are fluffy inside and crisp on the outside. According to legend, these light Jamaican corn bread fritters got their name because eating them is fun — like a festival.

What is Jamaican roti made of? ›

Jamaican Roti is a cross between roti and naan. Roti is a soft, thin, flaky flatbread cooked on a flat cast-iron pot called a Tawa. The main ingredients are wholewheat flour, salt and butter with no leavening agent added.

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