Jamun Jal Jeera [Sweet salt jamun cooler with roasted cumin]

The jamuns are here, again.

The longish plump varieties we get in the markets here come to us from the jamun-growing regions of southern Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Here’ they’re called நாவல் பழம் — naaval pazham, Syzygium cumini.

Our trees produce a “country variety” that is smaller, and bluer by far & very likely a Syzygium cumini cousin: Syzygium caryophyllatum or the njara pazham, which in fast Tamil elocution I suspect quickly becomes “naga pazham,” also because it’s black.

Naaval or Njara/Naga, the fruit hints of spice and has an astringent quality; even at their sweetest, jamuns have never really been a favorite in our house. The drink they produce, however, is entirely another story.

Jamuns demand a sweet-salt treatment reminiscent of that other indigenous summer cooler, the jaljeera: literally, water+jeera [cumin], but usually a variable combination of coriander, mint, ginger, cumin and other powdered spices which results in a cooling digestive perfect for the long summer sear. Pallavi at Veggie Zest did a straight sweet-salt version some years ago which is very nice, but I prefer mine a touch Indian-spice-kicked–to preserve the sense of a truly local taste, and to add to the drink’s digestive value, too.

The large pit of the jamun fruit makes it a challenge to juice straightforwardly. We dump all ours into a pan of boiling water, and watch the water turn a pulpy purple, a lot like a dye vat.

The colored liquid gets strained…

And sweetened and salted–a cup of sugar and less than a 1/2 teaspoon salt for every 2 cups of juice, or to taste–boiled down a little, and stored in the fridge for a week or a bit more as a concentrate to generate relief for any hot afternoon or sweltering summer night.

Just before serving, we roast a tablespoon of jeera seeds, and powder these roughly. A sprinkling of these adds a delightful crunch and flavor to the jamun juice, drawing out its natural affinity for subtle spiciness.

The concentrate can be thinned three different ways: with water, soda, or tonic water.

Water preserves the accuracy of the fruit’s flavors, and gives the expression “tall drink of water” whole new dimension of taste and experience.

Soda adds that sense of a je nais se quoi burning-cool, and tonic an additional breadth of taste to answer the fruit’s inherent astringency. You can pick your potion by your mood–or align your mood to what’s available.

To assemble: pour approximately 2 oz of the jamun concentrate into a glass (or more, for a sweeter stronger taste). Add a splash of lime juce–just a single squeeze from a halved lime or lemon will do just fine.

If you have a few jamuns left, crush them with a pestle lightly to bruise and drop a couple into each glass. This works better with taller servings, of course, since the jamun fruits are large relative to glass sizes themselves.

Top with ice, and then pour water/soda/tonic water over top.

Follow with a bit of amchur (dried mango powder, if you have it), and a generous pinch of roasted, crushed cumin (jeera) seeds. If you have black salt (kala namak) handy, that’s a lovely last addition, too. 

The soda takes a little time to really gather up its head, interestingly enough, so let the drink set a minute before you serve it. And there you have it. A simple, healthy, and beautifully purple sweet-salt-spice chilled summer cooler.

For an extra fancy touch: assemble some black salt and crushed-roasted jeera on a small plate, run the lime slice around the rim of your serving glasses, and invert the rims onto the salt-jeera mix. Add the crushed jamun and concentrate to the glass slowly, and then top with the liquid of your choice!