Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun (Vegan)

My 265th recipe, "Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun (Vegan)", a delicious twist on a famous Indian sweet. Have you ever been inspired by someone in your life ? While growing up, I never used to watch movies or sports or for that matter even politics. Hence was never a follower of any big time celebrities. It was usually my dad, mom at most times and other near & dear family members and friends who inspired me.

After marriage when I moved to the US, more than adapting to the new environment, the real challenge for me was to cook dishes for my foodie hubby. I never hesitated to call my mom at such times of need, even if it was mid night for her. I need to thank her for sharing all that she had learnt through her cooking experience. However, visual medium is always better to follow than oral instructions. This was the time when I was introduced to the digital world of blogging.

At that time, there were quite a few bloggers I used to follow. While I tried experimenting recipes from some of them, it was not always a success story. It was more failures than success. The one exception among all those blogs was Rak's Kitchen run by Rajeswari Vijayanand. She has a lot of delicious South Indian vegetarian recipes on her blog. She posts step wise pics with detailed instructions and it was really very helpful for me during my initial struggle. And when I slowly became competent enough to start experimenting on my own with recipes from different cuisines, I was curious to start my own blog. Long story short, Rajeswari from Rak's Kitchen was one of those persons who silently inspired me to start my blog, Revi's Foodography. Among all the delicious recipes she has on her blog, this Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun is one of my favorite. I have slightly modified her recipe to suite my ingredients and taste bud.

Gulab Jamun in a classic South Indian dessert typically made with all purpose flour and milk solids. It is so delicious and is surely a favorite for anyone who has tasted it. These sweet potato gulab jamuns are a twist in the classic tale. The sweet potatoes replace the milk solids and make this recipe naturally vegan. Also, the sweet potato imparts a lot of flavor to the jamuns and adds a even better melt in your mouth texture. Make this sweet potato gulab jamun asap and it is sure to satisfy even the biggest of the big sweet tooth around 🙂

Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun

Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun

Revathi Palani

Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun is an interesting twist on a classic Indian sweet / dessert. Made with sweet potatoes, its vegan and melts in your mouth. 

5 from 1 vote

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Total Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 16

Ingredients

  

• 1 large Sweet Potato
• 1 to 4 Tbsp All purpose flour (based on consistency of dough)
• a pinch Baking soda - a pinch
• a pinch Salt - a pinch
• Oil - For frying
• Pistachios - For garnish

For sugar syrup

• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Cup Water
• a pinch Saffron Strands
• 2 Cardamom Pods
• 3 drops Rose Essence

Instructions

 

• First, cut the sweet potato into pieces and cook the sweet potato without any additional moisture. (I pressure cooked the sweet potato. Add the sweet potato to a small vessel and place it in the pressure cooker. Add water into the pressure cooker but make sure there is no water in the sweet potato vessel.) Once the sweet potato is cooked, leave it to cool down to room temperature. Keep it on top of a paper napkin to absorb moisture.Once cooled completely, remove the skin of the sweet potato and mash it nicely.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-1.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-2.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" /><br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-3.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-4.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />
• To the mashed sweet potato, add the baking soda, salt and all purpose flour. Mix all together to get a smooth and soft dough. You should be able to roll out small balls with the dough. Start with adding 1 Tbsp of all purpose flour and keep adding more until desired dough consistency is reached.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-5.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-6.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />
• Heat oil in a kadai for frying. Take a small pinch of the dough and roll it into a small ball as shown in the pics. Repeat for all of the dough.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-7.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-8.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />
• Add the balls to hot oil and fry in medium flame in batches. Fry until the balls are deep golden brown in color and start to float on top of the oil. Transfer them to a plate.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-11.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-12.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />
• Meanwhile, in a separate heavy bottomed pan, add all the ingredients listed under "For sugar syrup". Heat in medium flame and keep stirring continuously until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to heat until the sugar syrup thickens a bit. Turn off the flame.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-9.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-10.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />
• While the sugar syrup is slightly warm, drop the fried jamuns to the syrup. Gently toss the jamuns. Leave the jamuns in the sugar syrup for atleast 3 hrs until it nicely soaks up the syrup.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-13.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jamun-14.jpg" alt="jamun" width="48%" />
• Serve the jamuns along with a little of the sugar syrup. Enjoy.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/sweet-potato-jamun-1.jpg" alt="sweet potato gulab jamun" width="100%" />
  

Notes | FAQ

- The quantity of all purpose flour depends on the type and size of sweet potato used. Mine was large and had lots of water content on its own and hence needed upto 4 Tbsp of all purpose flour. However do not add more all purpose flour than needed. The jamuns will turn hard.

- The dough will be slightly sticky. Grease your palms with oil / ghee when rolling the dough into balls.

- Do not roll the ball very tightly. The jamuns will turn out hard.

- While frying, do it in medium flame and in batches to ensure that the jamuns are cooked in the inside too.

- DO not add the jamuns to the sugar syrup when both of them are hot. They need to be warm. Else the jamuns will become shrunken. I have experienced that once 🙂