Jilipi/Jalebi

Jilipi/Jalebi for me is a dessert of festivity. It takes me down the memory lane. It was a must during bijayadashami(Dussehra). It was a must during Diwali. It was a must in Rather mela( Rathyatra, celebrated in Orissa and West Bengal). I use to save my pocket money for eating jalebis. It reminds me that I could eat a lot of jalebis in one go. Therefore, no other dessert would have been apt for this Diwali. It is easy to prepare and just needs little bit of pre-planning.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Wait time 15 hours

Servings: 3 (22-25 pieces)

Ingredients

• 1 cup of wheat flour or maida
• 1 tablespoonful of chickpea flour or besan
• 1 tablespoonful of yogurt.
• Pinch of turmeric powder
• 4-5 strands of saffron or kesar
• 3-4 pods of cardamom
• 1 ½ cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoonful of lemon juice
• Oil for deep frying

Directions

1. Take the wheat flour and chickpea flour. To it add ½ cup water and the yogurt. Whisk it properly to incorporate air into the mixture. Also, there should be no lumps in the mixture.
2. Leave it for fermentation for 12-18h in a warm corner of your kitchen. On fermentation, you will see bubbles on the surface. The time of fermentation depends on the season and place you live.
3. On fermentation, the batter might become thinner. In that case, add a teaspoonful of wheat flour. If the water is too thick add some water. The batter should have flowing consistency.
4. Add a pinch of turmeric for color before preparation. (I do not like using chemical food colors in my recipes so decided to use turmeric. However, the aroma of cardamom and kesar in the syrup is so overpowering that you do not get the smell of turmeric powder.)
5. Take a pot. To it add sugar and 1 ½ cup of water along with the cardamom, kesar strands and, lemon juice. Boil the syrup till it forms one wire consistency. (Here also, you can add a pinch of turmeric powder if you do not have kesar. You will get the aroma of cardamom only) The lemon juice added stops the process of crystallization of sugar in the syrup.
6. Stop the flame to cool down the syrup. The syrup should be warm or slightly hot and not boiling.
7. Put the batter in a milk packet or any similar kind of packet. You can also use a squeeze bottle if you have one. Stand the packet in a glass for support and then pour the batter.
8. Make a small hole otherwise the jalebis will become thick.
9. Take oil in a wide-mouthed pan and heat the oil on mid flame.
10. Now make the jalebis in the hot oil.
11. If the batter is very thin it will break in the oil, if it is thin then it will become flat and crispy and not soak the syrup. In that case add more wheat flour.
12. If the batter is thick each turn will become very thick and all of the turns will come together to form one lump. Add water in that case.
13. Fry the jalebis on both side and put it in syrup prepared.
14. Keep it in syrup for 2 mins on one side and 2 min on the other side. Take them out from syrup and keep in a plate otherwise the jalebis will become soggy.
15. Enjoy the hot jalebis with your family.

You can also fry your jalebis in ghee. Ghee adds to the aroma and taste of the jalebis.

Step by step instructions to prepare jilipi

Take the wheat flour and chickpea flour. To it add ½ cup water and the yogurt. Whisk it properly to incorporate air into the mixture. Also, there should be no lumps in the mixture.

Leave it for fermentation for 12-18h in a warm corner of your kitchen. On fermentation, you will see bubbles on the surface. The time of fermentation depends on the season and place you live.

On fermentation, the batter might become thinner. In that case, add a teaspoonful of wheat flour. If the water is too thick add some water. The batter should have flowing consistency.Add a pinch of turmeric for color before preparation. (I do not like using chemical food colors in my recipes so decided to use turmeric. However, the aroma of cardamom and kesar in the syrup is so overpowering that you do not get the smell of turmeric powder.)

Take a pot. To it add sugar and 1 ½ cup of water along with the cardamom, kesar strands and, lemon juice. Boil the syrup till it forms one wire consistency. (Here also, you can add a pinch of turmeric powder if you do not have kesar. You will get the aroma of cardamom only)

The lemon juice added stops the process of crystallization of sugar in the syrup. Stop the flame to cool down the syrup. The syrup should be warm or slightly hot and not boiling.

Put the batter in a milk packet or any similar kind of packet. You can also use a squeeze bottle if you have one. Stand the packet in a glass for support and then pour the batter. Make a small hole otherwise the jalebis will become thick.

Take oil in a wide-mouthed pan and heat the oil on mid flame. If the batter is very thin it will break in the oil, if it is thin then it will become flat and crispy and not soak the syrup. In that case add more wheat flour.

Now make the jalebis in the hot oil. If the batter is very thin it will break in the oil, if it is thin then it will become flat and crispy and not soak the syrup. In that case add more wheat flour. If the batter is thick each turn will become very thick and all of the turns will come together to form one lump. Add water in that case. Fry the jalebis on both side and put it in syrup prepared

Keep it in syrup for 2 mins on one side and 2 min on the other side. Take them out from syrup and keep in a plate otherwise the jalebis will become soggy.

Thank you for stopping by. If you like the recipe do not forget to hit like. If you prepare this dish and publish your photos on Facebook and Instagram do tag #theepicureanfeast. Also for queries you can mail me epicureanfeast2019@gmail.com