Jalebis! The name itself makes you salivate for those who have tried this heavenly dessert. The choice dessert in the entire Indian subcontinent, they have their origin trace back to 10th-century Persian cookbooks. Known as zolbiya in Iran, they are made from yeast dough fried and then dipped in a syrup of honey and rose water. The dish made its way into India during the 15th-century from Turkish invaders and after nearly 6 centuries of blending with regional cuisines, the modern jalebis recipe has taken its form. With its rich variations in recipes, Jalebis has become a popular dessert for festivals, parties and weddings. Made from a deep-fried batter of all-purpose flour, shaped like pretzels, they are dipped in saffron laced sugar syrup and served with Rabri. The chewy, crunchy texture with sugary syrup glaze is the mark of perfection for this ageless dish.

Traditionally, the batter is made from maida and yoghurt fermented for 24 hours. The batter is then fried in hot oil, poured with help of muslin cloth in circular pretzel shape. After that, they are dipped in sugar syrup laced with cardamom and saffron, and served warm or cold. Traditional recipe requires considerable forethought and effort. We will use the instant method which significantly reduces the duration and provides even crispier jalebis with the precise citric acid level concentration. Let’s start cooking!

INGREDIENTS

• 200 gm Maida flour or All-purpose flour
• 50 gm Rice Flour
• 3 teaspoon ghee
• 100 gm sugar
• 4 pods of cardamom
• 3 gm orange food colour
• 3 gm Eno(Regular)

PREPARATION

1. Take a bowl. Add 100 gm of sugar and 50 ml of water to the bowl and place it over medium flame to prepare the sugar syrup.
2. Stir the syrup occasionally. Once the syrup starts to simmer, lower the flame, crush and add the cardamom pods as well as orange food colour and let the syrup simmer until you have the perfect string-like consistency.

3. Take a mixing bowl and add the dry ingredients (Maida flour, Rice flour, Eno) and whisk them together. Add 3 teaspoon of ghee and whisk the batter again.

4. Add water slowly to the batter and whisk it to avoid lumps. Also, whisk enough air into it to get the batter smooth and light. Repeat it until you have consistency as per below picture.

5. Take a ketchup bottle (you can use a piping bag as well) and pour the batter into the bottle.

6. Heat enough oil in karahi/wok/pot to start frying Jalebis. Pour the batter with help of ketchup bottle in a circular fashion. You can make any number of jalebis at the same time depending on the pot size. Jalebis will start to float up, turn them over and fry the other side. Fry both sides for about 3 minutes(Do not wait for them to turn golden).

7. Add the fried Jalebis in warm sugar syrup. Both sugar syrup and jalebis need to be warm for the Jalebis to soak in the sugar syrup properly and get that perfect yellow hue.

8. Your dessert is ready to serve. You can serve it hot or cold with Rabri. With the above ingredients, you will be able to make about 12 servings.

After spicy meal or celebrations or just cravings for sweets, Jalebis are the perfect sweet for any occasion. So, what are you waiting for? Don your apron and make this delicious dessert from the century-old cookbooks with a modern twist! Let us know your feedback in comments below or on our social media pages. Follow us on social media pages for new articles and recipes!