Jalebi is the breakfast sweet of the North Indian street — bright orange spirals of fermented batter fried crisp and dropped straight into warm saffron syrup, eaten hot at dawn with milk or rabri at Old Delhi’s halwai counters. Its ancestor is the Persian and Arab zulabiya, a fried, syrup-soaked batter that travelled with traders into Mughal India, where it took the coiled shape and the name we know. The craft is in three things: a maida-and-yogurt batter left to ferment overnight for its tang and crispness, oil held at the right heat, and a one-string syrup kept warm so the spirals drink it in without going soggy. This version follows Kankana Saxena of Playful Cooking, whose jalebi holds to the fermented batter and the brief dip that keep them crisp.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup plain (maida flour)
- 2 tbsp gram flour (besan or cornflour)
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp plain yogurt
- water (to make a batter)
- a pinch of orange or yellow food colour (optional)
- 2 cups sugar (for the syrup)
- 1 cup water (for the syrup)
- a generous pinch of saffron
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ghee or oil (for deep-frying)
- slivered pistachios (to garnish)
METHOD
- Mix the flour, gram flour and baking soda with the yogurt and enough water to a smooth, thick but pourable batter.
- Cover and leave to ferment overnight in a warm place until it bubbles and smells faintly sour.
- Make the syrup by simmering the sugar and water with the saffron and cardamom to a one-string consistency, then stir in the lemon juice and keep warm.
- Stir the fermented batter, adjust with a little flour or water if needed, and pour into a squeeze bottle.
- Heat the ghee in a wide, flat pan to a steady medium heat.
- Pipe the batter into spirals straight into the oil and fry until golden and crisp on both sides.
- Lift out, drain briefly, then dip the hot jalebis in the warm syrup for under a minute.
- Lift onto a plate, garnish with slivered pistachios, and serve at once.
