Chapaathi chup chup jalebi jhum jhum kene mosaranna
uppinakaayi….doesn’t this ring a bell…of those tiny totty montessory musings?
For a moment, let’s pause at the second item in the menu….hmmm…jhummmm isn’t
it? Why waste time humming and rim jhimming.. when our mouths are already
watering …Ready, get set, let’s Jjhumpstart to JALEBIing those spirally, syrupy
frybees
Dish type: Traditional
Sweet
Time required: 30 min
Yield: 10 to 12 nos.
Ingredients
For
grinding:
Urad dal 1
handful
For frying:
Pure ghee 2
cups
For
sugar syrup:
Sugar 1
cup (for medium sweet taste)
Water 1.5
cups
Rose essential oil 2
to 3 drops (can be added to syrup when syrup is ready)
Saffron pods Few
strands (approx. ¼ tsp)
Directions
Soak urad dal in water overnight. Drain out the water
completely and grind it to a smooth batter (vada consistency) with absolutely
no water. Water that’s still left out in urad is sufficient, because more the
water, more the ghee that gets sucked in by jalebi.
Boil water in a vessel
along with sugar and rosewater till syrup reaches sticky (and not string)
consistency. Keep the flame low.
Method
of frying:
Heat small quantity of ghee
(quantity just enough to fry 1 or 2 jalebis at a time) in a kadai on medium
flame till hot, but not too hot (no fumes should emanate from ghee since it is
carcinogenous) Make a small hole at the bottom of a 3” x 4” plastic cover.
Transfer urad dal batter into this cover. Holding the filled cover, squeeze the
batter slowly in circular pattern into the ghee. Getting decent shaped circles
is difficult initially. For a start, it’s better to concentrate on taste and
consistency. Fry till done.
Let urad batter fill the
cover. You will be holding only at the top.
Dip this into the warm sugar
syrup. Let it soak for a minute. Then turn over so that the other side is also
soaked in the syrup. Let it soak for another 1 minute. Total soaking time must
be about 2 to 3 min approx. This also depends on softness of jalebi after
frying and thickness of syrup. More they are soaked, darker will be the colour.
Avoid jalebis from breaking. Remove them
from the syrup. Transfer to a plate.
Jalebis are now ready.
Tete a
Tete
Whole
white urad dal tastes better than whole black urad dal.
While
grinding soaked urad dal, add a tsp of curd or milk. This helps to get smooth
consistency.
If the
batter becomes thin, add a spoon or two of maida (all purpose flour)
If
sugar syrup is of string consistency, then jalebis will not be soft.
No need
to ferment the batter. Jalebis taste sour if batter is fermented. Choice is
yours! Also fermenting the batter makes it thinner.
It is
better not to keep the batter in fridge for your convenience of doing jalebis
later.
Rosewater
(1 tsp) can also be used instead of Rose essential oil.
Instead
of using saffron pods you can also grind separately ¼ of a small size Beetroot (peeled
and grated) and 2 nos. Carrot (medium size, peeled and grated), extract the
juice and add to boiling sugar syrup.
Avoid reusing fried ghee.
Recipe
contributor: My dear friend Ms. Sreeja M
