Kesar Jalebi

I have never met anyone who doesn't like jalebis. It’s a favorite mithai / sweet of every Indian I guess. I remember my childhood days when I used to wait for Ahoi Goddess puja, wherein jalebis were served as Prasad. I and my siblings waited from day before till next day’s evening prayer, after which we were allowed to relish jalebis. We still have this puja at home every year and I too still wait for them, longingly.

My grandma also made me eat jalebis whenever I suffered from cold because it is believed that jalebis soaked in milk is homemade medicine for cold and cough. And I never complained, who would have if the medicine is as tasty as Jalebi. In fact I even faked illness sometimes, just to eat delicious sweet jalebis, Best part, my grandma always knew that I was never sick. ;) :p :D J

Here’s the recipe that I use to make them.

Ingredients:

For Batter

2/3 Cup Maida or all purpose flour:

1 Tablespoon semolina

2/3 Cup water

1 ½ Tablespoon curd/ yoghurt

¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds powder

Oil for deep frying.

For sugar syrup

1½ cup water

1 cup sugar

One lime wedge

Few strands of Kesar / Saffron

Recipe:

Batter:

Sift flour and semolina in a bowl. Add water and curd. Whisk well for around 15 – 20 minutes. This will put air in it and little bubbles will start forming in the batter, which means fermentation has begun. At this stage leave the batter aside, in a warm place, for at least 4 hours of fermentation, but overnight is preferred.

Once the batter has nicely fermented, add cardamom powder and mix it using cut and fold method. Do not mix it quickly otherwise the batter will lose its air. Batter is ready.

Sugar syrup:

Pour water in a bowl on low heat, add sugar and mix nicely. Once sugar has dissolved, put syrup on high heat and add the lemon wedge. Once it has started to boil nicely, check the syrup for any sugar residue or impurities on the surface, and remove it using a spatula. Remove lemon wedge. Add saffron and let it simmer. Syrup is ready when it’s of one string consistency.

Method:

Pour batter in a sauce bottle. In a pan on medium flame add oil. Now squeeze the batter using circular motion in the pan. Fry on both sides till its golden brown. Take it out and dip it and swirl it in the sugar syrup and leave it there few seconds for Jalebi to absorb the syrup. Then take it out and drain the excess syrup. Jalebi is ready to eat. Eat it with a warm glass of milk.

Note:

Semolina is added to make Jalebi crispier. It can be avoided if you don’t like crispier jalebis.

Instead of cardamom, you can use fennel seeds powder or cinnamon powder in the batter.

One string consistency of the syrup is checked by taking a little bit of syrup on the thumb and tapping finger on it, if syrup forms one string it is ready.

Lemon wedge in the syrup ensures that any impurities get concentrated on the surface of syrup.