Jalebi: Indian cuisine

Welcome to Little Chef’s Apron. Today we’ll make something that is a popular and a very delicious dessert in India ( mostly in north India) so read along and cook!

The sugar syrup:

Ingredients:

1.5 cups sugar

3/4 cup water

2 cardamom pods

3 -4 strands of saffron

3 drops lemon juice

Directions:

. First, add the sugar and water to a vessel and switch on the heat to medium flame.

. Now, add the flavouring and stir well. Once the sugar is dissolved in the hot water, add the lemon juice. Adding an acidic agent would help the sugar not to crystallise again.

. Cook it for 5-7 minutes on low flame till it is slightly sticky but not thick.

Switch off the flame and start with the jalebi batter.

The jalebi:

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

Water as needed

Pinch of orange colour

1/4 cup ghee

Oil for frying

Chopped almonds

Directions :

. First, add flour and ghee to a bowl. Then add the colour.

. Mix it slightly just to incorporate the ghee into the flour. We will not be adding any sugar here because all the sweetness will come from the syrup.

. Add water slowly, to form a thick batter. It should have no lumps and should fall off in intervals.

Take a piping bag and fill it with this batter. I am using a round tip, small nozzle to get the proper shape but you can use any plastic cover or zip lock bags.Now, place the vessel with oil onto the heat on high flame. The oil should be medium hot and not smoky hot.

. Now, switch off the flame and pipe it out in a circular motion. Make sure you are not dropping the batter from a height or else it would splatter in the hot oil.

. I prefer to do 3 jalebis at a time but you can do as much as you are comfortable with.

. Switch on the flame for the sugar syrup for it to be a little warm again. And now, when the jalebi turns crispy and changes it’s colour, add it immediately to the warm sugar syrup. Let it soak for 7 to 10 seconds and transfer it to a strainer.