Behold the Kala Jamuns, a denser, richer version of the Gulab Jamuns, an indian sweet(doughnuts soaked in flavored syrup)
The Kala Jamuns are dark and dense and usually have more khoya(milk solids), paneer(Indian cottage cheese), and sugar along with the usual Gulab Jamun(GJ) concoction of milk powder and/or khoya and flour in them. There are different variations with sugar added to the dough unlike the usual GJ and so on. The ones I remember from years ago were shaped like a fat Spiral or long oval, was ultra sweet, black and crumbly. The GJ or KJ is usually fried and then soaked in flavored sugar syrup. Here are 2 versions.. I seem to be on 2 in 1 post roll.:) A fried and also a Baked version! Do leave me a note if you try these.
To get the dense texture, I used a lot more nuts(especially Cashews) and oats than the GJ version.
Another important addition.. rock salt. Yup, rock salt(kala namak) adds that slight sour salt-ish taste to it which is associated with milk cheese like paneer or khoya.
I made them into spirals. The shape ensures that they cook quickly and evenly.
These are slightly on the crumbly side. To make them chewier, add 2-3 Tablespoons more all purpose flour or a teaspoon of vital wheat gluten to the dough. To make a glutenfree version, use gf flour and add a Tablespoon of starch(Tapioca/corn/arrowroot) to the dough. Adjust water to make a soft dough. The gf version will be more delicate.
I like the crumbly versions really, as they just melt in your mouth.
I wrote up 2 versions of the recipe(tried many slight variations here and there), both of which can be fried. The one without bread crumbs though, if baked will make a harder jamun. The Bread Crumbs help keep the baked version airy.
The darker gooey ones in the pictures are the fried version. The dryer lighter ones(tighly fit into the single serve, since I have just one of that spoon;)) are baked. The baked ones absorb the syrup more and dont have much oil sheen.
Kala Jamuns
A denser, richer version of the Gulab Jamuns, an Indian sweet(doughnuts soaked in flavored syrup)
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 144kcal
Ingredients
Sugar Syrup:
- 6-7 Tablespoons (6 Tablespoons) Raw sugar raw sugar is sweeter than regular white varieties and makes a brown-ish syrup
- 1 cup (250 ml) water
- pinch of cardamom powder
- rose essence or rose water to taste or a few strands of saffron.
Fried version
- 3 Tablespoons (Tablespoons) ground Oats
- 2 Tablespoons nuts ground I use 1 Tbsp cashew 1 Tbsp almond.
- 2 tablespoons flour whole wheat or all purpose or both
- 1 Tablespoon ground raw sugar 1 Tablespoon more for sweeter spiral
- a generous pinch of baking powder
- pinch of cardamom powder
- pinch of salt
- pinch of rock salt
- 1 teaspoon oil I use organic canola
- 1 Tablespoon water or almond milk
- Oil for frying
Baked:
- 2 Tablespoons ground Oats
- 1 Tablespoon raw sugar ground 1 Tablespoon more for sweeter spiral
- 1 Tablespoon ground almond or cashew
- 1 tablespoons bread crumbs (heaping) Coarse crumbs, lightly toasted . I used home made wheat bread
- 2 Tablespoons flour I usually use whole wheat, or half ww and half AP. ww works well for browning the balls but also makes for a crumblier version
- A generous pinch of baking powder
- pinch of salt
- pinch of rock salt
- pinch of cardamom powder
- 2 teaspoons oil I use organic Canola
- 2 teaspoons water or almond milk
Instructions
Sugar Syrup
- For the sugar syrup, mix all ingredients in a deep pan(also wide enough to accommodate the jamuns) and bring to a boil. Keep simmering on low-medium till the syrup thickens a little(5-6 minutes). Add a few drops of rose essence. Take off heat if your jamuns are not ready.
Fried
- Mix all the dry ingredients well.
- Add the oil and water/almond milk and mix. mix to make a soft dough(dough might not be smooth). Use a little flour if needed. Let the dough sit covered for 5 minutes.
- Oil your hands, take a portion of the dough and make a 4-5 inch long rope and shape into a spiral.
- Shallow fry on medium high heat, for 2-3 minutes each side in a thick bottom pan.(Oil should be atleast half the height of the spirals)
- Once done, gently immerse the spirals in simmering syrup. Flip after 2-3 minutes for even absorption.
- Serve warm!
Baked
- Mix in all the dry ingredients well.
- Add oil and water and knead into a soft dough. Let dough rest for 2 minutes.
- Oil hands and shape into spirals. Place them on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake at preheated 375 degrees F for 12 minutes, them flip them upside down and bake for 5-6 minutes or more for a browner version.
- Place the jamuns in simmering syrup. Flip after a minute.
- Then remove from syrup after 1-2 minutes when syrup has been well absorbed. (absorption time will depend on how brown and hard the baked spirals are)
- Serve warm. Top with chopped pistachios.
Notes
Nutritional values based on one baked serving
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Kala Jamuns
Amount Per Serving
Calories 144 Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value*
Fat 3g5%
Sodium 162mg7%
Potassium 26mg1%
Carbohydrates 28g9%
Sugar 21g23%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin C 0.5mg1%
Calcium 10mg1%
Iron 0.6mg3%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tips:
1. The sugar in the jamuns will caramelize and give it a brown color and also easily go from brown to charred. the color will darken 2-3 shades when soaked, so keep an eye out when cooking.
2. The sugar syrup if too thin will cause the jamuns to melt in it. if too thick then it will not soak through. A little thicker is a better option, since the jamuns already are slightly sweet and cooked and they look better when whole.:)
These Jamuns are heading to Hearth and Soul blog hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Ricki’s Wellness Weekend, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Amee’s fit and fab friday.
archena says
April 5, 2012 at 4:30 amThanks Richa for the vegan recipe I have been finding it often hard to veganise our Indian sweets
Richa says
April 5, 2012 at 5:00 amThanks Archena. I keep experimenting with the sweets and even though not all will taste exactly the same, the texture and taste are close enough and the versions delicious enough to overwrite the non vegan tastes:) Do let me know if you try these.
Raji says
April 5, 2012 at 5:02 amThe fried jamuns are looking simply wow !they look just like the normal khoya ones, so hard to believe that kala jamuns can be veganized…you are a real inventor Richa.
Richa says
April 5, 2012 at 6:16 pmThanks Raji! Try these and let me know:)
Plateful says
April 5, 2012 at 7:53 amBaked jamuns? Interesting! I love kala jamuns better than gulab jamuns because of the texture, though honestly I’ve never tried making it at home.
Richa says
April 5, 2012 at 6:17 pmThese are much simpler than the non vegan versions. I like the baked versions better coz i can eat more of those:)
Premalatha Aravindhan says
April 5, 2012 at 10:50 amwow really yummy,luks so tempting…cannt wait to try this…
Richa says
April 5, 2012 at 6:17 pmThanks Premalatha! Let me know when you do
Caitlin says
April 5, 2012 at 11:22 amoooh! i want to make an indian doughnut! thank you for giving agluten-free option! the dried gooey version looks so delicious and reminds me of sticky buns i used to eat when i was younger from a local bakery. although, i’d make the baked version to be slightly healthy 😉
Richa says
April 5, 2012 at 6:18 pmI like the baked version more than the fried one too.. the fried ones are more like the actual non vegan deal, so i put up both recipes!:)
Shannon says
April 5, 2012 at 11:27 amThese look wonderful. I love cardamom in my sweets.
Poonam Borkar says
April 5, 2012 at 12:04 pmlooks so inviting dear..perfectly done!!
Spicy-Aroma
Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes says
April 5, 2012 at 2:18 pmI can almost taste these as I was reading your post- they look so good & gooey and just GOOD!
Richa says
April 5, 2012 at 6:19 pmu need to make these and taste these to know.. the pictures are not doing justice to the taste:)
easyfoodsmith says
April 5, 2012 at 2:24 pmThese looks great! Lovely presentation too. Love the way to play around with the flour base of a recipe. Delicious post!
Richa says
April 5, 2012 at 6:21 pmThanks. need to make a similar tastier, easier, healthier vegan versions of sweets to people can make those intsead!:)
dassana says
April 5, 2012 at 7:43 pmi have bookmarked both this recipe. i was thinking how to veganize indian sweets which have khoya. thanks for sharing richa. would love to see some more indian sweets 🙂
Richa says
April 5, 2012 at 9:18 pmthanks Dassana. There are a bunch on the blog already. Fixing the Rasmalai hopefully soon.
Richgail @AstigVegan says
April 5, 2012 at 9:01 pmYay!!! I’m so happy you posted this, I’ve been wanting to have Gulab Jamun for sooo long! Now I can I have a vegan recipe similar to it. Thanks!
Richa says
April 5, 2012 at 9:19 pmThanks RG.. you will love this more than the uber sweet original:)
Anu says
April 5, 2012 at 9:52 pmwow!! Vegan jamoons. Looks fantastic
Richa says
April 6, 2012 at 5:51 amThanks Anu!
Hannah says
April 6, 2012 at 4:55 amI always used to avoid gulab jamun because I hated rosewater and found these too sweet, but now I *adore* rosewater and so your version looks heavenly!
Richa says
April 6, 2012 at 5:43 amThe way our tastes change.. hope you try these out!
Sherlock says
April 6, 2012 at 5:02 amMade these tonight and I’m sorry to report but these were just ok. The ‘donut’ was quite bland and just sweet. It was only the syrup that made it taste decent. Which, by the way, took me much much longer than 3-4 minutes to thicken it just a “little”. I like the idea though…cute little, easy to bake dessert with a syrup. I’ll have to tweak it a bit of course.
Great pictures by the way!
Richa says
April 6, 2012 at 5:43 amThe jamuns are soaked doughnuts. The balls or the spirals are mildly sweet and they are soaked completely in the syrup. Just the balls of the original non vegan version, are even more bland. You can add more sugar to the dough. The thickness of the syrup depends on the kind of sugar. I added a bit more time to the instructions for the syrup. Thanks for trying these out. Hope you tweak them to your liking. 🙂
Andhra Recipes says
April 6, 2012 at 12:12 pmYour blog looks good and provides different types of sweet recipes.It is also provides,how to prepare the ‘sweet’ using this blog.Thanks for proving the information.
Best Regards:
Andhra Recipes
Soundarya V says
April 6, 2012 at 7:17 pmWOW..Baked version of jamuns..looks so yummy..got to try this..
Richa says
April 6, 2012 at 9:27 pmThanks Soundarya!
Lizzy says
April 7, 2012 at 9:16 pmGorgeous treats!!! You can see that the sugar syrup has soaked in…yum, yum!
April @ The 21st Century Housewife says
April 8, 2012 at 5:05 pmWhat lovely recipes! The sugar syrups sound so delicious, and I like that you use the ground nuts in them (especially cashews, my favourite!) as well.
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
April 9, 2012 at 7:15 amThese looks so tempting — grew up eating boat-load of kala jamuns. Love it 🙂
The Cooking Actress says
April 9, 2012 at 12:07 pmThese look so so so yummy-I now wants them
Michelle @ The Willing Cook says
April 9, 2012 at 2:43 pmYou have some very nice pictures of your delicious treat! I’m a bit late this week, but want to thank you for sharing at last week’s Allergy-Free Wednesdays. We hope that we’ll see you again this week.
~Michelle, AFW Hostess
Amee says
April 12, 2012 at 2:22 pmOh my, these donuts look so moist and delicious!! Thank you for sharing them at Fit and Fabulous Fridays!! 🙂
Anonymous says
November 28, 2012 at 4:37 pmHave you tried using vegan ricotta cheese?
Richa says
December 5, 2012 at 6:07 pmno i havent. Usually the cheeses have soy, so i avoid using them. the other non soy cheeses non dairy brands dont have a ricotta.
Shweta says
July 29, 2013 at 10:07 pmI just made these jamuns. They don’t look as yummy as yours but they came out pretty good and the kids loved it! Thanks for the great recipe.
Jo says
November 14, 2016 at 12:04 amyum! i just made the baked version now. it was a bit crumbly to form into spirals so i made them into rounds just like the regular jamuns. i didnt have any rose water but its still its really good! i never thought i’d have my favourite sweet gulab jamun again after ditching the dairy. i will share these with friends tomorrow! thanks for the recipe 🙂