Aachi Samayal: October 2011

Kala Jamun

sweets October 31, 2011

KALA JAMUN

This is really a very interesting recipe, I always had a doubt how they make this kala Jamun. How can they add a black food color to derive this Color to the jamun, i was really confused and refused so many times in the Sweet stall to even buy this Jamun. But i never thought of checking the recipe for this to know what they add to make this Color. Then i found out the magic behind this recipe. Once i was browsing the net and got this recipe from VAH REH VAH!! This is other type of Jamun, sugar is added in the dough, and after frying, the sugar caramelization gives it its dark, almost black color, which is then called Kala Jamun - " Black jamun"

Vah Reh Vah cleared the doubt and then i made this for a diwali, everybody was like ohh how did you get this color, Did you add food color to achieve this, Then i made them clear with the recipe. This recipe has a big story :)

Jamun is one of the ever favorite sweet which i love . I used to make the normal round brown one, and then for a diwali i tried this Kala Jamun to just have a twist and also different sweet. It came out really well and the recipe has a just small deviation. Check out my Jamun Recipe too!!

Cuisine : Indian

Preparation time : 10 mins

Cooking time : 20 mins

Course : Dessert

Main Ingredients : Jamun mix and Sugar

Ingredients:

Jamun Mix - 1 pkt

Sugar - 3 cups

Water - 1/2 cup

Saffron - a pinch

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Oil to fry - 3 cups

Preparation :

First let us prepare some sugar syrup for the Jamun. In a large wide pan add water and the sugar mentioned above. It is better to add water till the sugar immerse or little more than that. No need any string consistency but you can keep stirring and see how the syrup turns.
When the syrup is boiling you can add little saffron strings and crushed cardamom.
You will get nice aroma from the syrup. Don't boil it too much to a string consistency then it will crystallize. If you want to stop crystallize you can add few drops of lemon juice in it.
Now you can turn off the heat and start making the dough.
In a large bowl add the jamun mix and pour water little by little, so you can make a soft dough.
When you are ready with the dough,you can add oil to a large pan and turn on the heat.
Make the balls out of the dough. You can make any shape. I made a cylindrical shape.
To make the jamun to change color, i added sugar to a small portion of the dough.
Kala means Black in Hindi, So to make the Jamun Black we are going to add sugary dough in the middle and going to cover with the actual dough which doesn't have sugar in it. So you can make balls out of the whole dough and keep it ready to fry.
Now check whether the oil is hot enough by dropping a pinch of dough to it.
The oil should be in the correct temperature to fry all the Jamun, To check the correct temperature - When you drop the dough it should not fry right away, it shld take a short while and rise slowly,if so then your oil is in the right temperature.
Few people will just stir the oil to get the circular motion so the Jamun takes time to cook and darken evenly all the sides.
Ok now all the balls are fried and now you can add them to the sugar syrup. It will sizzle when you drop in the syrup. Let it take time to absorb all the sugar from the syrup and it will become soft. Till then wait and then you can serve hot Jamun.