Kala Jam (Indian Sweet)
Kala Jam
Mamta Gupta
Kala-jams are dark coloured, almost black, sweet balls, soaked in syrup, like a ?Rum Baba? without the rum. They are a little larger and darker in colour than the Gulab Jamuns. The word ?kala? means black in Hindi. Jamun or Jamu is an Indian fruit, shaped a little like a date and of dark purple colour. This sweet name kala-jam after them. The difference from Gulab Jamun is that Kala jams have a paneer as well as maaa in them. they are sold by almost all Indian sweet shops in UK.
Makes approximately 30.
Ingredients
350 gm. Khoya or Mawa 1 / Khoya or Mawa 2. One litre milk makes approximately 180-200 gm. khoya. It may be available ready made in your local Indian grocery store or s
150 gm. Paneer or Indian Cottage cheese. It is available ready made from Indian grocers and some supermarkets.
65 gm. plain flour or maida
Fresh oil for deep frying (do not use oil that has been used before). Traditionally, they are fried in Ghee.
For Syrup:
750 gm. granulated sugar
4-5 cups water
1/2 tsp. green cardamom powder
1 tsp. rose water or a few drops of rose essence
A few strands of saffron (optional)
Instructions
Making syrup:
Boil sugar with water until it has 1 thread consistency. To test this, dip and lift the ladle out of the syrup, touch the syrup carefully with your forefinger and stretch it between it and the thumb. You should get one wire stretching out.
Add cardamoms and rose essence. Keep aside, warm, on minimum heat or hot tray.
Making kala-jams:
Grate and mash mawa and paneer solids into a bowl.
Add flour and make a smooth and soft dough. Knead it well.
Make about 1- 1 1/2 inch balls and then shape them into oblongs, by rolling between your palms. Size depends on your choice. They are generally the size of a golf ball, larger than gulab jamuns.
Heat oil to low-medium hot, not smoking hot or kala-jams will burn very quickly.
Fry kala-jams in small batches, until they are dark brown in colour.
Immerse immediately in warm syrup. They will absorb syrup and enlarge in size but remain floating in syrup. They roughly double in size after they are soaked in syrup.
Serve at room temperature.
Notes
They will last in the fridge for a couple of weeks and can be frozen, though fresh are best.
