Kala Jamun / Kaala Jamun - Uttar Pradesh

Come and visit the state of Uttar Pradesh. Uttar means North and Pradesh means place.. So come to the state which is in the Northern part of India. Uttar Pradesh was home to the very powerful empires – Magadha, Mauryan, Gupta etc. If you read Indian history, you will surely read about Uttar Pradesh. If you read Indian Ethics, then also you will come to Uttar Pradesh which has Mathura city. If you are tourist, one of the important places – Taj Mahal is here. Also two main Indian rivers – Ganga and Yamuna join at Allahabad and then flow as Ganga further east. Coming to today’s recipe it is a delicious sweet which is so tasty and authentic. I got this recipe from a few places on Internet. Some websites tell to add sugar to the dough, some do not. I chose the option of adding the sugar to the dough as it will give a caramelized sugar taste and also helps in browning better. Make sure you have the oil on low medium or the inside will remain uncooked.

Ingredients

Khoya / Mawa - 3/4 cup
Paneer - 1/2 cup
Flour - 3 table spoons
Baking Soda - A pinch
Sugar - 2 cups
Water - 1 cup
Castor Sugar - 1 table spoon
Ghee / Vegetable Oil - for frying
Cardamom Ppowder - 1/4 tea spoon
Milk - 1 - 2 table spoons
Rose water - 2 - 3 drops

Method

Grate the khoya and paneer one by one and set aside
Add flour, baking soda and cardamom powder. Add a table spoon of milk and knead well till smooth
If the batter is dry and have cracks, add few drops of milk at a time until it is a smooth crack free dough.
Divide the dough into 25 equal portions.
With each portion, place in your palm and press and roll into a smooth ball. Roll the balls in the castor sugar.
Bring sugar and water to a boil and cook on high until sugar dissolves. Bring it to 1/2 string consistency where it is sticky but not syrupy. It will become lightly golden in color.
Add rose water and remove from heat and keep the syrup warm
Heat sufficient ghee / oil in a kadai on medium heat. Slowly drop the balls in medium hot oil
Remove the kadai off the heat. Lightly  rotate the kadai till the balls gently float to the surface.
Place the kadai back on heat and continue to fry on medium heat stirring very gently. The jamuns will turn dark brown in color. It will become almost black.
Remove from hot oil / ghee and dip them in the syrup.
Soak the jamuns in warm syrup  and allow it to soak for at least 30 minutes. It is better to soak the jamuns for 8 hours or overnight for better flavor.
Serve warm.

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