JALEBI

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

Recipes viewed here are a part of  "Mangala's Potluck" section in this blog