Jalebi

Ingredients

Batter

• 250 gplain flour
• 2 tbspgram flour
• 200 mlplain yoghurt
• 150 mlwarm water
• ¼ tspground turmeric
• a pinch of baking powder

Syrup

• 500 gsugar
• 300 mlwater
• a few strands of saffron
• 4green cardamom pods, crushed
• 1 tsplemon juice
• 1 tsprose water

To fry

• ghee or oil

Directions

1. Whisk the flours, yoghurt, water and turmeric into a smooth batter the thickness of double cream, and leave it covered at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.
2. That ferment is what makes a jalebi. It gives the faint sourness and the internal bubbles that keep the coil crisp, and an unfermented batter fries into something dense and merely sweet.
3. It is ready when it has risen slightly, smells tangy and shows bubbles through it.
4. Whisk in the baking powder just before frying, and beat the batter hard for a minute to bring the air back.
5. Make the syrup: boil the sugar and water with the saffron and cardamom for 5 to 7 minutes to a one-thread consistency, then add the lemon juice and rose water.
6. One thread, no further. Thin syrup makes the jalebi soggy and thick syrup crystallises on it and never soaks in.
7. Keep the syrup warm but not hot, at about the temperature of a bath.
8. Pour the batter into a squeeze bottle, or a cloth piping bag with a small hole cut in it.
9. Heat the ghee to about 180°C (355°F) in a wide shallow pan.
10. Squeeze the batter into the hot fat in concentric spirals, starting from the centre and working out, three or four turns.
11. Work fast and keep the pressure steady. The shape sets within a second or two, and hesitating gives you blobs rather than a coil.
12. Fry for about a minute a side, until pale gold and crisp, and do not let them brown.
13. Take them out pale. Browned jalebi turns bitter and will not absorb syrup properly.
14. Lift them straight from the fat into the warm syrup and leave them 30 to 60 seconds only, turning once.
15. Under a minute in the syrup. Longer and they go limp, and the whole point is that a jalebi crunches and then floods.
16. Lift them onto a rack and serve immediately, while still warm and crisp.
17. They descend from the Persian and Arab zalabiya, and a version appears in the fifteenth-century Jain text Priyamkaranrpakatha.

Technique

• Turmeric is for colour and food colouring is the modern shortcut; neither adds flavour.
• They are at their best within minutes of being made, which is why halwai shops fry them to order.
• In the north they are eaten hot with rabri, and in Indore for breakfast with poha.

Substitutions

• A pinch of yeast plus 30 minutes if you cannot wait overnight, which is quicker and less sour.
• A thick plastic bag with a corner snipped off in place of a squeeze bottle.

Variations

• Imarti, thicker and made with urad dal batter.
• Jalebi with rabri, in Uttar Pradesh.
• Chanar jilipi, the Bengali version made with paneer.

History

Descends from Persian-Arab zalabiya; a version appears in the fifteenth-century Jain text Priyamkaranrpakatha and in Sanskrit cookery writing.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jalebi?

Jalebi is a dessert from India: crisp fermented-batter spirals fried and dunked in saffron syrup. Descends from Persian-Arab zalabiya; a version appears in the fifteenth-century Jain text Priyamkaranrpakatha and in Sanskrit cookery writing.

How long does Jalebi take to make?

Jalebi takes 20 min plus 12 hr fermenting of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 30. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Jalebi?

Yes, within limits. A pinch of yeast plus 30 minutes if you cannot wait overnight, which is quicker and less sour. A thick plastic bag with a corner snipped off in place of a squeeze bottle.

What is the most important thing to get right in Jalebi?

One thread, no further. Thin syrup makes the jalebi soggy and thick syrup crystallises on it and never soaks in.