Jamun ice cream: why kala jamun is the purple fruit that deserves more love

If you grew up in India, you probably remember jamun season by your tongue. A handful of those small, glossy purple-black fruits from a roadside cart, a pinch of salt, and a purple tongue for the rest of the afternoon.

What is kala jamun?

Kala jamun, also called jamun, jambul or Indian blackberry, grows on tall trees across India. It's nothing to do with gulab jamun, the syrupy sweet. The fruit is tangy, a little astringent and deeply purple, with a flavour somewhere between a plum and a grape.

A monsoon fruit

Jamun ripens around the start of the monsoon, roughly from late May to July. The trees drop fruit all over pavements, and for a few weeks it's everywhere. Then it's gone.

No colouring needed. Jamun brings its own purple.

Why jamun makes a brilliant pop

That tang is exactly what makes it work frozen. Blended with milk, the sourness softens into something bright and refreshing, with a colour no food dye could match. Our Kala Jamun pop is a deep, dusky purple, and every bit of that comes from the fruit.

It's also one of the three layers in our Rainbow Mix, alongside mango and strawberry.

For the adventurous

Kala Jamun is the pop we recommend to people who say they've "tried everything". It's local, unusual and tastes of Indian summers in a way no strawberry ever will.

Jamun ice cream, made from the fruit

Search for jamun ice cream and you'll find plenty of purple desserts. Very few of them get their colour from actual jamun. Because the fruit has a short season and a big seed, it's easier to use flavouring and colour. We do it the slow way: fresh jamun pulp and milk, so the colour and the tang are both real.

What it tastes like

Kala jamun has a flavour you don't forget: sweet-tart, a little astringent, with a dry finish that makes your mouth pucker slightly. In a creamy pop, the milk rounds off that sharpness and leaves something bright, fruity and very refreshing. It's the pop our regulars recommend when a friend says they've tried everything.

A taste of home

For a lot of people in Hyderabad, Vizag and Kurnool, jamun is a childhood fruit, eaten straight off the tree or from a paper cone with salt and chilli. Our Kala Jamun pop is a small tribute to that. It's also one third of our Rainbow Mix, where it sits alongside mango and strawberry.

More seasonal stories: Sitaphal season, the Alphonso question and Araku coffee.