Kala jamun or Kala Jaam is one of the most loved sweets. It is one of the most ordered dessert at an Indian restaurant. After all, special occasions and festive season calls for a perfect dessert. You can call these fried balls as the king of Indian sweets. It is black in color hence the name. Both gulab jaam and Kala Jaam are rich and syrup laden sweets. Some people also serve dry kala jaam without the extra syrup .You will see both the varieties in a sweetshop. Some people will just gorge on the chaat counter and sweet one in weddings. This is however a healthier version. Can you guess how? We try to make it healthy although it is still fried 🙂You can always try an air fried gulab jamun if if you want to avoid deep frying, but cannot resist a gulab jamun.
Other indian festival recipes include akhrot barfi , gluten dry fruit anjeer roll, easy instant jalebi ,kesar rasmalai, besan laddoo & aate ke ladoo. Also you can find a good collection of Diwali recipes here.
Well, there is no maida / plain flour or all purpose flour in it. We make it from a surprise vegetable which is sweet potato. This is a shakarkandi based one so it is actually a falahari gulab jamun. Yes, gluten-free gulab jamuns are a reality too. This is the beauty of Indian food. It caters to every diet whether its gluten allergy, or lactose. Also, this recipe of kala jamun is without khoya / mawa but uses paneer. You got to make it to understand that there is no change in taste. Super tasty, rich and yummy. You can also stuff it with nuts if you like. However, this version is a nut-free one.
Yes so you can actually eat it during fasting. It is totally gluten-free. It does have milk powder and paneer in it, to give it that color. People also make vegan food but that is for another post. For now, I sign off on this Diwali delight on the gluten free one. For the gulab jamun version using similar ingredients , you may refer to a recipe by fellow food blogger here
Ingredients
- Sweet potato boiled and grated
- Paneer/cottage cheese/ricotta cheese
- Milk powder
- Ghee (hot)
- Sugar
- Water
- Lemon juice
- Saffron strands
refer to recipe card for details.
Equipment
- Grater
- Saucepan
- Kadai
Instructions
- Boil and grate the sweet potatoes. Add milk powder ,paneer and hot ghee.
2. Knead a smooth dough. Add more milk powder if required(allow the mix to rest for 5-10 minutes before add more milkpowder as the mix will tighten up)
3. Grease your palms with little ghee and mould small portion of gulab jamun dough, in desired shape either cylindrical or round. Repeat for the remaining dough..
Gulab jamun balls are delicious in any shape.
4. Cook your sweet dumpling in ghee/oil on medium heat. Keep stirring all the time.
5. Take out using a slotted spoon, once dark brown
6.Move to warm sugar syrup once the whole batch is fried. Keep adding spoonful of sugar syrup on top of the gulab jamun (if they are not completely submerged in the syrup) so that they so that they soak the hot syrup.
7. Serve after few hours or next day. You can serve it hot or at room temperature as per your choice.
Related recipes
Kala Jamun recipe | gluten free gulab jamun
Equipment
- Grater
- saucepan kadai
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweet potato boiled and grated
- ½ cup paneer/cottage cheese
- 1-¾ - 2 cup milk powder
- 1 tablespoon hot ghee
For sugar syrup
- 1.5 cup sugar
- 1.5 cup water
- 3-4 drops of lemon juice
- 5-6 saffron strands
Instructions
for sugar syrup
- Bring all ingredients to a boil.
- Keep it hot by moving to a very very low flame or keeping it over a water bath(on top of a vessel that is boiling water)
for kala jaam
- Boil and grate sweet potato.
- Add paneer and milk powder to it with 1 tablespoon hot ghee.
- Knead the dough, add more milk powder if required(allow the mix to rest for 5-10 minutes before add more milkpowder as the mix will tighten up)
- Grease your palms with little ghee and mould in desired shape either cylindrical or round.
- Heat ghee in the kadai on low flame.
- Test the ghee and mix by frying a small ball of mix.
- Fry the full sized balls on low flame.
- Use a spoon to keep on stirring them slowly in the oil/ghee.
- once they turn dark brown, move them to the sugar syrup.
- Let them stay in the syrup for few hours.Do not move them a lot else the shape is not preserved
- Keep adding spoonful's of sugar syrup on top of the gulab jamun(if they are not completely submerged in the syrup) so that they so that they soak the syrup.
- Serve Hot or cold as per your liking.
Notes
Serving suggestion
Enjoy these melt-in-mouth hot kale gulab jamun with a cold strawberry ice-cream ,mango kulfi or kesar pista kulfi, Indian wedding counter style. Hot gulab jamuns with cold ice cream is superb. This combination is pretty popular in wedding menu. You can also enjoy pairing it with a spicy samosa. You can also serve it hot with cold rabri.
Storage
Store them in refrigerator. They stay good for a week although it is guarantee you will eat them faster than that.
Variations
You can make gulab jamun with khoya. You can also make gulab jamun with maida but that is not gluten free. Some people also make gulab jamun with mix.Many mixes are available like GITS, MTR etc. However, I like to make it from scratch. You can also make gulab jamun sabji Jodhpur style using the balls as kofta. These days cake and cheese cake with this flavor is also very popular. Some people also make bread jamun these days. If you are watching your weight, try this air fryer gulab jamun recipe.
FAQ
Generally, it takes 6-7 mins. Make sure you have enough space in kadai as they expand while being fried.
It should be soft and smooth.
If there is too much moisture in the dough, or it is not fried long enough then it is too soft. Another reason for not so perfect gulab jamuns is watery sugar syrup.
Difference between gulab jamun and kala jamun is not just in color. Other than the color, there is a difference in taste which is due to the addition of Paneer .I prefer fresh home made paneer that can be easily crumbled and added to the mix. While frying them ,they will get a dark brown color .The skin of the kala jaam is also thicker than gulab jam.
Conclusion: You can never get enough of gulab jamuns!
Lata Lala says
Thank you Gaurav for making Yummy Tales Of Tummy
https://yummytalesoftummy.com/sweet-potato-gulab-jamun/
recipe. I am glad that you recreated it.
It is one of my favorites too.