Jalebi
Thin, crunchy and juicy jalebi that are dunked in sugar syrup and served hot or warm as is or with rabri for a burst of flavors.
Ingredients
For the batter and for frying
- 1 cup all purpose flour / maida
- 1½ tbsp chickpea flour
- 3 tbsp yogurt
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
- a pinch of orange food color, optional
- water, ½ cup or as needed
- oil or ghee, to fry the jalebi
For sugar syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- ⅛ cup cardamom powder
- few saffron strands
- ½ tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the all ingredients mentioned under 'for the batter and for frying' except for water and oil or ghee. Whisk well.
- Add half cup water or as needed to make a smooth batter. Cover the batter and let it ferment for 12-15 hours in a warm surrounding.
- Add sugar and water to a pan. Mix till the sugar dissolves and let it come to a boil.
- Add cardamom powder, saffron strands and lemon juice. Mix well. Let it simmer until it reaches a single thread consistency. Take it off the heat.
- Meanwhile, heat oil or ghee in a kadai on low-medium heat.
- Mix the batter well and transfer it to a squeeze bottle. Squeeze the batter in the oil in a spiral motion. Move from the inside to the outside. Fry till golden-brown and crisp on both sides.
- Remove the jalebi from oil and immediately dip both sides in warm sugar syrup for a few seconds.
- Remove from sugar syrup and serve hot or warm.
Notes
- Make sure there are no lumps while making the batter.
- If you do not want to use any food color, then use turmeric powder or add more saffron strands in the sugar syrup.
- To make the batter, add half cup water and then add more if needed. The batter should neither be too thick nor too thin.
- Keep in mind that the batter thins out after fermentation. So, add water as needed.
- Leave the batter to ferment for 12-15 hours or as your surrounding climate is. The batter is fermented once you see small bubbles on the top.
- For frying the jalebis, you can use oil or ghee or even a combination of both.
- Simmer the sugar syrup until it reaches a single thread consistency or until it turns sticky. A single thread consistency is when a drop of sugar syrup in between your thumb and index finger forms a single thread while pressing and releasing the fingers.
- While dropping the batter in the oil or ghee, make sure it is in low heat. After dropping it, increase the heat to medium and fry the jalebis.
- If the oil is too hot while frying, the batter ,might disintegrate. And if it is too low in heat, then the jalebis might absorb more oil or ghee.
- If you do not have a squeeze bottle, then use a piping bag or a freezer friendly pouch to pour the batter in and cut the tip to make a small hole.
- While dipping the fried jalebis in sugar syrup, make sure it is still warm.
- Dip the fried jalebis immediately in the sugar syrup just for a few seconds. Not more and not less.
- Lemon juice is added in the sugar syrup to avoid crystallization of sugar.