Jalebi

Jalebi

India's iconic festival sweet: a fermented all-purpose-flour batter piped into hot ghee into pretzel-like coils, fried crisp, and immediately dunked in a saffron- and cardamom-scented sugar syrup until glassy and saturated.

Prep

30 min

Cook

40 min

Total

70 min

Serves

6

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •250 g (1¾ cups) all-purpose flour (maida), traditionally maida; can sub half with whole-wheat but color/crispness change
• •15 g (1 tbsp) urad dal flour (split black gram), tradition-bound; yogurt alone works but crisps less
• •120 ml (½ cup) plain whole-milk yogurt
• •200 ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) warm water, adjust to a smooth, ribbon-thick batter
• •2 g (1 tsp) active dry yeast, or ½ tsp baking powder for a quick (unfermented) version
• •1 g (¼ tsp) turmeric, for color only; a few drops orange food color is the modern norm
• •0.5 g (a pinch) saffron strands, bloomed in 1 tbsp warm water
• •500 g (2½ cups) ghee, for frying; sub with neutral oil, but ghee gives the authentic flavor
• •400 g (2 cups) granulated sugar
• •250 ml (1 cup) water
• •6 g (1 tsp) green cardamom seeds, lightly crushed
• •5 ml (1 tsp) lemon juice, prevents the syrup from crystallizing
• •2 ml (½ tsp) rose water or kewra water, optional, but traditional in many regions

Steps

1. 1 Bloom the yeast: stir yeast and a pinch of sugar into 60 ml of the warm water; let sit 8–10 minutes until foamy.
2. 2 Whisk flour, urad dal flour, turmeric, yogurt, bloomed yeast, and the remaining warm water until you have a smooth, lump-free batter slightly thicker than pancake batter. Cover and ferment 6–8 hours at room temperature (or 2 hours in a warm spot) until bubbly and ribbon-thick. If using baking powder, skip the rise and add it just before frying.
3. 3 Make the syrup: combine sugar, water, cardamom, and lemon juice in a wide pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer 5–7 minutes until it reaches a sticky one-string consistency (a drop between cold fingers pulls a single thread). Stir in the bloomed saffron and rose/kewra water. Keep warm on the lowest heat.
4. 4 Heat ghee in a wide, deep pan to 170–175°C / 340–350°F - it should sizzle steadily when a drop of batter is dropped in, but not smoke. Too cool = greasy, too hot = brown outside, raw inside.
5. 5 Transfer the fermented batter to a squeeze bottle, piping bag with a 3–4 mm round tip, or a traditional cloth piping bag (a muslin cone with a tiny snipped end). If the batter has thinned, stir in a spoonful of flour to bring it back to ribbon thickness.
6. 6 Pipe the batter into the hot ghee in steady concentric circles (about 5–6 cm / 2–2½ in across) from the outside in. Do 2–3 jalebis at a time so the pan temperature stays steady.
7. 7 Fry 60–90 seconds per side until deep golden and crisp. They should sound hollow when tapped and the surface should be blistered, not pale.
8. 8 Lift each jalebi out with a slotted spoon, let ghee drip for 2–3 seconds, then drop directly into the warm syrup. Soak 30–45 seconds, turning once, until the surface looks glassy and the bubbles slow.
9. 9 Lift out, drain briefly over the pan, and serve warm. Fresh jalebi are juicier; leftovers re-crisp briefly in a 180°C / 350°F oven.