Jalebi For ICC

Jalebi was the sweet that was chosen for  Srivalli’s Indian Cooking Challenge this month. I had missed a couple of challenges in between and I was determined to make it this time. But when I saw the annoucement, I was disheartened. Jalebi, the famous sweet, looks beautiful and tastes awesome. But I have heard that it requires great skill to get that lovely shape.

Years ago when we went to Kasi[Varanasi], after the temple visits, I would indulge in a treat of piping hot jalebi’s at the stalls on the way to the hotel.Served in small cups [made of some dried leaf], the vendor would serve his customers piping hot and perfect looking jalebis.

The ICC announcement made me nostalgic but still I was skeptical to try,my main worry was the shape. Anyway, last night I got the ingredients together and made the batter which had to ferment overnight. Today the jalebi’s were piped out. They were not perfect in shape, but the taste was excellent!!

Now to the recipe….

For the batter

Maida / All purpose flour – 100 grams
Corn flour – 30 grams
Curd / yogurt – 3/4 cup
Lemon juice -1 teaspoon
Hot oil – 1 tablespoon
Saffron color – a pinch

For sugar syrup:

Water – 1 cup
Sugar – 1/2 cup

Oil for deep frying

1. Get the ingredients for the batter

2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl

Let it ferment overnight.

The fermented batter will look like this the next morning…..

Can you see the small bubbles after fermentation….

3. Mix well. The batter will look like this…

4. Heat a pan with the sugar and water for preparing the sugar syrup

5. Bring to boil and remove from heat when it reaches single thread consistency.

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I tried my best to capture the sugar syrup consistency. When the syrup is allowed to drip form the ladle, it will not be watery but drips like a ‘ thread’

6.Meanwhile heat oil for deep frying

7.Spoon the batter into a thick plastic cover / bag and make a small hole on one end.

8. When the oil is hot enough, pipe the batter as circles into the hot oil

9.When the jalebi is crisp, remove from oil and drop into the warm sugar syrup.

10. Remove the jalebi from the sugar syrup after a couple of minutes.

Note:

• The batter has to be really thick. So when mixing the ingredients for the batter, add curd spoon by spoon till the desired consistency is reached.
• You can use a ziplock bag or any plastic cover / packet for piping the batter into the oil. Make sure the nozzle is not too small or too large. At first , I cut off a very tiny hole, and the jalebis looked like this!!!

• Take care while piping out the batter into the hot oil. Hold the piping bag tightly and see to that its not too close to the hot oil.
• I tried piping them out on a ladle and then inserting the ladle into hot oil. But the result was not good.
•  Regulate the oil temperature so that the jalebis are cooked right.The jalbeis must not turn dark brown.
• The jalebis should not be soaked for too long in the sugar syrup. Remove them from the syrup after a couple of minutes.
• Practice leads to perfection, so this one has to be made several times to get the right shape.

It was really a great experience. I never thought making jalebis at home would be all this easy!!!

Bon Appetit…