Kalo Jaam/ Kala Jamun/ Gulab Jamun

Kalo Jaam/ Kala Jamun/ Gulab Jamun

Have you ever wondered how we humans have segregated humanity in borders, caste and color? A particular color or race has always been looked upon as superior ones while the others have suffered discrimination just because of their skin color,
or the place from where they come from.
And how ironic it is that when it comes to food we don’t give a single thought about color and it’s origin. Taste becomes the King.
Why not let humanity be the king, leaving beside all other demeaning things?

Why did this thought come to my mind? As soon as I started writing this post, the very first word of the title intrigued me to think why can’t we love humans, albeit of any color or caste, the way we love food, albeit of any color or state or country. I know the comparison may sound weird, but just thought of sharing my thoughts with you all.

Coming to this recipe or post which is very close to my heart. I am a huge huge fan of Kala Jamuns. I remember as a kid this was one sweet which I always used to look forward to during festival time. But to make them at home was not a possibility even in my wildest dreams ;)

Gulab jamuns who are subjected to more torture of frying turn into kala jaams, known for their distinctively different chocolatey black color.
Chenna or paneer is kneaded with khoya along with maida, made into balls and fried to perfection till they get that chocolatey black color. Then dunked in aromatic sugar syrup.
Don’t let their looks fool you- they are deviously simple to make, and require very little effort to prepare.


INGREDIENTS:

For kala jamun balls
Mawa or khoya- 150 grams
Cottage cheese or Paneer- 50 grams
All purpose flour or Maida- 30 grams
Semolina or Sooji- 1.5 teaspoon
Soda bicarbonate- a pinch
Milk- 1 tablespoon
Oil or Ghee for deep frying

For stuffing
Mixture of finely chopped Almonds, Cashews and Pistachios- 1 tablespoon
Suagr- 1/2 teaspoon
Cardamom powder (choti elaichi powder)- 1/4th teaspoon
15-20 Saffron strands dissolved in 1 teaspoon of warm water

For sugar syrup
Sugar- 1 cup
Water- 1/4th cup
Lemon juice- 1/2 teaspoon
Rose water- 1 tablespoon
Cardamom powder (choti elaichi powder)- 1/2 teaspoon
Saffron (kesar)- 12 to 15 strands


Take khoya in a plate or bowl. Mash the khoya very well with your hands.
You can also grate and then mash the khoya.
There should be no lumps or small bits or pieces in the khoya.

Cover and keep it aside for some time.
While the dough is resting we will prepare sugar syrup and filling/stuffing.
Take sugar in a pan and add water.
Keep this pan on stove top on a low to medium flame and stir so that the sugar begins to dissolve.
When all the sugar is dissolved, add lemon juice. The lemon juice does not allow the sugar syrup to crystallize.
Cook the sugar syrup on a low to medium flame till the syrup becomes sticky. The syrup should be just sticky and not of any thread consistency.
Switch off the flame and add cardamom powder, saffron strands and rose water.
Sugar syrup is ready.

For this, in a mixing bowl take finely chopped cashews, almonds and pistachios.
Stuffing is ready.

How to make and fry Kala jamuns


All of it will not be used but for frying we have to take sufficient ghee.

While the ghee is heating up let’s prepare jamun balls.


Now roll in to a round shape or oblong/ oval using your palms and place them on a plate.

Similarly prepare all the jamun balls.

Check the ghee, it should be hot and not smoking hot.

For testing the right temperature of ghee slid a tiny dough ball in the hot oil.

If the ball comes up slowly and not quickly, the temperature is right to fry the jamuns.

Gently drop the prepared dough balls in ghee to deep fry. Do not over crowd the pan.

Instead pour hot ghee over them using a ladle.


Sugar syrup should be warm/ hot when you put fried jamuns in it.

If you see that the syrup is not warm, then switch on the heat and warm it.

Let the fried kala jamuns drench in sugar syrup for at least 2 to 3 hours.

The kala jamuns will absorb sugar and get sweeter.


NOTES
The khoya used for gulab jamuns is the soft khoya also known as hariyali khoya or chikna khoya. This is a soft khoya, so it mashes and kneads very well.
There should be no cracks on the surface of the jamuns.
Take adequate amount of ghee for frying the kala jamuns, if the ghee is less then the jamuns are not fried aptly and don’t puff up.
Frying has to be done at low flame so that the interior of the jamuns is also cooked well.
In the last stages of frying increase the flame to give that distinctive black color to them.

Recipe Card

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They are deviously simple to make, and require very little effort to prepare.
I guess once you start eating them, you can never stop ;)
Preparation Time: 30 minutes 
Cooking Time: 25 minutes 
INGREDIENTS:

For kala jamun balls
Mawa or khoya- 150 grams 
Cottage cheese or Paneer- 50 grams 
All purpose flour or Maida- 30 grams 
Semolina or Sooji- 1.5 teaspoon 
Soda bicarbonate- a pinch
Milk- 1 tablespoon 
Oil or Ghee for deep frying

For stuffing 
Mixture of finely chopped Almonds, Cashews and Pistachios- 1 tablespoon 
Suagr- 1/2 teaspoon 
Cardamom powder (choti elaichi powder)- 1/4th teaspoon 
15-20 Saffron strands dissolved in 1 teaspoon of warm water

For sugar syrup 
Sugar- 1 cup
Water- 1/4th cup
Lemon juice- 1/2 teaspoon 
Rose water- 1 tablespoon 
Cardamom powder (choti elaichi powder)- 1/2 teaspoon 
Saffron (kesar)- 12 to 15 strands 

DIRECTIONS:

Take khoya in a plate or bowl. Mash the khoya very well with your hands. 
You can also grate and then mash the khoya.
There should be no lumps or small bits or pieces in the khoya. 
keep the mashed khoya aside. 

Next, grate and mash paneer same as khoya.

After that add Khoya, sooji, soda bicarbonate and refined flour to the paneer and mix everything really well until soft and smooth. 
You don’t have to knead the dough. Just mix and gather the dough. 
You can add milk if you feel the dough is dry. I have added around 1 tablespoon of milk.
The dough should be soft and smooth.
Cover and keep it aside for some time.
While the dough is resting we will prepare sugar syrup and filling/stuffing.

Take sugar in a pan and add water.
Keep this pan on stove top on a low to medium flame and stir so that the sugar begins to dissolve.
When all the sugar is dissolved, add lemon juice. The lemon juice does not allow the sugar syrup to crystallize.
Cook the sugar syrup on a low to medium flame till the syrup becomes sticky. The syrup should be just sticky and not of any thread consistency.
Switch off the flame and add cardamom powder, saffron strands and rose water.
Sugar syrup is ready.

For this, in a mixing bowl take finely chopped cashews, almonds and pistachios. 
Add in cardamom powder and sugar to it. Add Saffron water too.
Now take 1 tablespoon dough mixture and add it to the stuffing and mix everything really well. 
If you want you can add some food color to the stuffing as well but I have not added any colors.
Stuffing is ready.

How to make and fry Kala jamuns

Heat enough ghee in a wok. I took around 500 grams of ghee.

All of it will not be used but for frying we have to take sufficient ghee.

While the ghee is heating up let’s prepare jamun balls.

For that divide the dough in equal 9 portions. 

Divide the stuffing also in 9 balls.

Take one portion of dough at a time, flatten it with your fingers, stuff it with little amount of stuffing and close the stuffing nicely. Be gentle while closing.

Now roll in to a round shape or oblong/ oval using your palms and place them on a plate.

Similarly prepare all the jamun balls.

Check the ghee, it should be hot and not smoking hot.

For testing the right temperature of ghee slid a tiny dough ball in the hot oil.

If the ball comes up slowly and not quickly, the temperature is right to fry the jamuns.

Gently drop the prepared dough balls in ghee to deep fry. Do not over crowd the pan.

Keep the flame low and the ghee should be medium hot. 

Don’t touch the kala jamuns with ladle while frying. They might crack or break.

Instead pour hot ghee over them using a ladle. 

Fry them on low flame until they turn little brown in color. 

After this fry them on high flame till they turn darker in color. Fry till they get chocolate color.

Drain out the fried kala jamuns and dunk them in sugar syrup. 

Sugar syrup should be warm/ hot when you put fried jamuns in it.

If you see that the syrup is not warm, then switch on the heat and warm it.

Let the fried kala jamuns drench in sugar syrup for at least 2 to 3 hours. 

The kala jamuns will absorb sugar and get sweeter. 


NOTES
The khoya used for gulab jamuns is the soft khoya also known as hariyali khoya or chikna khoya. This is a soft khoya, so it mashes and kneads very well.
There should be no cracks on the surface of the jamuns.
Take adequate amount of ghee for frying the kala jamuns, if the ghee is less then the jamuns are not fried aptly and don’t puff up.
Frying has to be done at low flame so that the interior of the jamuns is also cooked well.
In the last stages of frying increase the flame to give that distinctive black color to them. 
The sugar syrup has to be warm/ hot when you dunk fried jamuns in it.