Chocolate and Peanut butter is the perfect combination for these delectable Chocolate and Peanut Butter Kala Jamun! These sticky-sweet deep-fried dough balls are filled with cocoa powder and peanut butter stuffing then doused in sugar syrup and topped with whipped cream.Â
They are ridiculously yummy and can perk up anyone's day.
It was my Dad that gave us the idea kind of by accident! We were talking about chocolate and peanut butter and he joked that we should combine with Juman .. he meant it as a joke but my and my Mum's ears perked up! Gulab Jamun or Kala Jamun is always a topic of conversation in our house - if only we could eat them all of the time!
KALA JAMUN
It is a traditional sweet hailing from the Eastern part of India and made with paneer and khoya (milk solids), but cherished and adopted all over India. These also known as KALA JAM or SUJI GULAB JAMUN too.
CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT BUTTER KALA JAMUN
Usually, traditional Kala Jamun is either made without stuffing or if made with stuffing then the stuffing is prepared with khoya or mawa, nuts, and saffron. Also, topped with sweetened cream (malai) and slivered nuts. In this recipe, we have used western flavours, which is chocolate and peanut butter. For stuffing sweetened cocoa powder mixed with peanut butter, and kala jamun topped with whipped cream.
Kala Jamun supposed to be a little harder and chewy outside and inside should be soft. This recipe is actually quite straight forward, and the best part is that there is no fuss about sugar thread consistency.
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
Although this dish is Indian, you don't have to visit an Indian grocery store to fetch any ingredients at all. Everything can be bought from any supermarket.
Let's first talk about chocolate
Chocolate - We have used sweetened cocoa powder for stuffing and melted dark chocolate chips to drizzle on top of the Kala Jamun.
Peanut Butter - Thick, creamy and smooth butter works best for the stuffing. We have used Manilife Peanut butter.
Paneer - Paneer is an India dairy product, which can be prepared at home or you can buy store-bought. Want to try out our homemade paneer recipe for this treat? Go on, homemade is always best and fresh.
Khoya/Mawa - I know I mentioned above that for this recipe you don't have to go to the Indian grocery store. Worry not, you can get all the ingredients to make Khoya or Mawa at home and it's an easy peasy job. Check out our Homemade Chikna Khoya or Ricotta Cheese Mawa/Khoya recipe using Full Fat/Cream Powder and ricotta cheese which is available in any supermarket.
BTW, khoya or Mawa is another dairy product that is hugely popular in making Indian dishes, especially sweets. In English, it is known as Milk Solids.
Sugar - white granulated sugar works absolutely fine here.
Flours - Plain flour or all-purpose flour (Maida) and semolina. We have used fine semolina, but you can use coarse too.
Leavening Agents - we prefer using baking powder over bicarbonate or baking soda as the baking powder has no taste and works perfectly in dairy-based recipes whereas soda has a tangy taste and when you add it you have to be so precise, or the tangy soda tastes bitter and quickly become soapy.
When baking powder is used in the recipe, the batter or dough can be left over for 15-20 as the batter or dough won't loose its leavening power.
Double or Whipping Cream - You can buy readymade whipped cream or make your own at home.
Silver Foil - As known as Varq, It's edible and vegan too, but you don't have to use it if you don't want to as this does not add extra taste or flavours.
IMPORTANT TIPS TO MAKE BEST KALA JAMUN
- Always make sure you use fresh paneer and khoya, stale dairy products do not provide any freshness to the recipe and it may make you unwell.
- Kala Jamun is not an instant recipe, however, it is easy and straight forward but it will take a bit of time of yours, so make it when you have some time on your hands and patience.
- Khoya and Paneer need to knead so well, as both products are not very soft but grainy, you have to knead the dough with the heels of your palm, yes use some elbow grease to make smooth into a pliable dough.
- Never use more semolina than given in the measurement, semolina will make Kala Jamun rock hard.
- Use leavening agent in exact measurement.
- Keep the Kala Jamun dough fairly sticky and grain-free, if you do need to add milk to loosen the dough, you may use it a little.
- Make sure to keep the dough covered for at least 10 minutes but do not exceed more than 20 minutes at the room temperature.
- When you make balls, try not to leave any cracks.
- The oil or ghee SHOULD NOT be heated at high temperature, first heat ghee or oil on medium heat, then lower the heat and wait for 5 minutes then carefully add Jamun, fry on a very low heat to achieve the dark colour and to cook properly inside too.
- As I said above we don't need any threads in sugar syrup, just make sugar syrup little sticky and it will work.
- If living in a cooler climate do not use ghee for frying.
- Add the kala jamun in the syrup as soon as they are deep-fried, and when you add the jamuns in the sugar syrup, the syrup has to be warm but not HOT or boiling.
- Leave the Kala Jamun in the sugar syrup minimum 4 hours, so they absorb sugar syrup well.
FAQ
Don't want to buy or make Khoya, any alternative I can use?
Instead of khoya, you can use milk powder, one tablespoon ghee or unslated butter and use milk to bind the dough.
How to store the Kala Jamun?
We love to keep Kala Jamun at room temperature, usually, they stay fresh for 3-4 days. They stay good up to a week if kept in the refrigerator. Once they are filled with whipped cream consume in a couple of hours.
Can I make Boozy Kala Jamun?
My Dad sometimes mentions rum babas so why not also add it to Kala Jamun? In the sugar syrup, you can add 3-4 tablespoon dark rum (adults only!)
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT BUTTER KALA JAMUN?
First, prepare sugar syrup (CHASNI) by mixing sugar and water in a pan. Bring it to boil, and let it simmer for 10 minutes until it looks little sticky or changes colour. Turn off the heat and leave aside covered.
In a wide plate, take grated panner and khoya (we used homemade khoya and kept little loose). Using your heels of the palm, knead it so well and make it very soft and supple.
Add big pinch sugar, semolina and plain flour, and start kneading the dough. We need a sticky and pliable dough. You may need a tablespoon of milk if the dough is hard. Cover the dough with the clean tea towel and leave it for 10-12 minutes.
Divide the dough into equal size and make round balls.
In a small bowl combine cocoa powder and peanut butter, and make very tiny small balls.
Take one ball, flatten it on your palm, put the chocolate and peanut stuffing and seal it with the outer layer. Now very gently give this ball shape of oblong or cylinder.
Once all done, cover it with the tea towel and heat the oil in a wide pan or Kadai.
Gently, fry them on a low heat for 8-10 minutes or until very dark in colour.
Add them in the sugar syrup and leave it to soak the syrup.
You may want to check out our other Paneer and Khoya recipes
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Peanut Kala Jamun
Equipment
- 1 plate
- 1 Frying pan
- 1 Spoon
Ingredients
Sugar Syrup
- 550 grams sugar
- 700 ml water
Kala Jamun
- 250 grams paneer
- 250 grams khoya
- 1 tablespoon semolina suji-sooji-rawa
- 4 tablespoon plain four maida
- 2 tablespoon milk more or less
- 2 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon sweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- oil to deep fry
- 5 tablespoon whipped cream
- 1 tablespoon melted chocolate
garnish
- edible silver foil varq
Instructions
Sugar syrup
- In a big pan combine sugar and water, bring it to boil then simmer for 10-12 minutes until it gets slightly sticky or goes very pale yellow colour.
- Turn off the heat and leave it aside.
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Kala Jamun
- In a wide and big plate, take grated paneer and khoya and mix.
- With the heel of your palm, soften the mixture.
- Add semolina, plain flour, sugar and baking powder and mix again.
- If needed add a tablespoon of milk and knead soft and pliable dough without any lump.
- With the clean kitchen tea towel, cover the dough and leave it aside for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the stuffing by mixing cocoa powder and peanut butter.
- Make small balls ( just bigger than green pea size) and leave it.
- Now, divide the dough into equal size balls.
- Take one bowl, flatten on your palm and put a chocolate-peanut ball in the centre of it.
- Seal the dough very carefully and gently and shape into an oblong Jamun.
- Heat oil and deep fry the Jamun on a medium to low heat until dark in colour.
- Once done remove and add them into the warm sugar syrup.
- Leave it 3-4 hours in the syrup.
- Once ready to serve, remove it from the syrup.
- Make a slit in the centre of the Kala Jamun with the sharp knife, be careful not to cut the whole way through, then pipe the cream in the slit area.
- Drizzle some peanut butter and melted chocolate.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
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