KALA JAMUN

Gulab Jamun is my favourite sweet of all time. But this time tried kala jamun, which is my pending recipe from last so many days. Kala Jamun a popular dessert sweet, which are for most festivals, weddings or any occasions. This is basically a soft-textured and deep fried dumplings. The regular gulab jamuns are light golden in colour whereas kala jamuns are dark in colour. Kala jamun is fried to a much darker colour is takes on totally different flavour. But never get tempted to increase the flame and burn the jamuns.  Unlike gulab jamun, kala jamun has crispy outer layer and is softer inside. Kala means black in colour because of double frying and it takes more time to absorb the sugar syrup than the regular jamuns. Traditionally, kala jamun is not served in a bowl of sugar syrup instead it is usually left to soak the syrup and then is served dry.  They are made with paneer, mawa and other ingredients. Here I tried to make it with two different shades but I think I added less saffron so there is no colour difference in my recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

100 gms Paneer / Cottage Cheese

200 gms Mawa / Khoya

50 gms All Purpose Flour /Maida

2 tablespoon Samolina / Rawa / Sooji

1-2 tablespoon Milk Powder [optional]

Ghee for frying

4-5 sliced Almonds, Pistachios each

4-5 strands of Saffron soaked in water

1 teaspoon Cardamom Powder

1 Pinch Baking Soda

For Sugar Syrup:

2 Cups Sugar

2 Cups Water

METHOD:

For making sugar syrup:

STEP 1 – Add sugar and water in a bowl and heat it.

STEP 2 – Bring it to boil till the syrup is one string consistency.

STEP 3 – Switch of the flame and keep it on the gas stove to keep it hot.

For making Kala Jamun:

STEP 1 – In a bowl, add grated mawa, paneer, all purpose flour, baking soda, sooji and cardamom powder and mix well.

STEP 2 – Mix it well and make a soft and smooth dough with it.

Divide the dough in two portions, one small and one big.

STEP 3 – Add sliced nuts and saffron water in small portion and mix it and keep it aside.

STEP 4 – Divide both the dough into equal small , lemon sized portions.

STEP 5 – Take a portion of plain dough and flatten it and fill it with the saffron dough portion. Close the sides and make a bullet shape.

STEP 6 – Likewise, make all the bullets with the rest of the dough.

STEP 7 – Heat ghee in a wide kadai on low flame.

STEP 8 – Deep fry the jamuns till dark golden brown or blackish in colour.

STEP 9 – Drain excess ghee from it and fry the rest of the bullets.

STEP 10 – Likewise fry all the jamuns and keep aside.

STEP 11 - Soak the jamuns in sugar syrup for 3-4 hours and then serve.

STEP 12 - Remove from the suger syrup and garnish them with some grated coconut and sliced nuts and serve. Serve the kala jamun hot or chilled.

You can microwave them for a minute at the time of serving or chill them in refrigerator and serve chilled.