Home made Crispy & Juicy Jalebi | Jalebi Recipe | Indian Sweet

Jabeli, the most famous Indian sweet throughout  the world. It's made from deep frying the fermented  batter and then dipped in saffron flavored sugar syrup. They are crispy and so juicy , on every bite, the sugar syrup trapped inside the jabeli oozes out from it. Simply Delicious it is ! 

The jalebi that I had tasted in my home town(Tirunelveli) were not very thin and it was almost similar to Jangiri and was white in color, thick and soggy. And I didn't like them back then and now. Later I got introduced to this crispy and thin jalebis when we were in Bangalore.

Near our home, there was a food cart where they sell only jalebi and samosa in the evenings and I had a chance to watch them making jalebi whenever I went for a walk in the evening. 

I really loved to see how effortlessly they made those jalebi and the cost was just 15 rs/ 100 gram of jalebi. Since I love to eat them hot, we waited for the fresh batch of jalebi from the stall and had it on the spot, seriously i didn't have the patience to bring it back home and eat it. 

Does anyone like to have the sweet as hot?? or it's just me , whatever the sweet, i love to have them as soon as it's made and hot !!! Right from kesari, gulab jamun,jangiri , palkova on the list goes on. I had quite the experience of burning on top of my mouth and tongue by tasting like this !!! But still it's hard to give up that habit. 

While writing this, I remember a line from one of the Tamil stories(can't remember the story name) written by Mr. Thi. Janakiraman. It's like this "சூடு ஒரு ருசி போல ?"(is hot really a taste?). Is it or isn't it ? It's debatable, right ? :-)

Ok, back to jalebi, after a few failed attempts, finally i can make some decent jalebis. The key to get perfect jalebis are the batter consistency and the oil temperature. 

The batter should be well fermented and also free flowing. Next, don't let the oil smoke at any time of frying, it should be at a low medium temperature. See notes on how to check the perfect oil temperature without a handy thermometer. 

The main reason for sharing this yummy sweets today is, it's my 500th post !!! So here is the virtual treat to all the readers on my blog, thanks for being so supportive and encouraging. 

Still, I can't believe that I have posted 500 posts, phew !!! Before check out the recipe,if you want to know what i have prepared for past 2 days under "Street food" theme, here they are
Day 1 - Dahi Papdi Chaat
Day 2 - Bhel Puri

And some FAQs

How to get perfectly shaped jalebis ?

• The oil temperature is the key to get the perfect shape of the jalebis. If you add a drop of batter into the oil, it should take at least 3-4 secs to float on top. If it comes up on top immediately, the oil is very hot, you need to reduce the oil temperature. 
• If the oil is too hot, squeezing the batter as a concentric circle is difficult because once the batter touches the oil, it floats on top immediately and you can't squeeze the batter  as circles further .
• If the oil is not heated enough, then the jalebis would be flat.
• If you're having a number system in your stove, once the oil is heated , keep in between 3 & 4 for the entire cooking of jalebi.
• I kept  my stove at number 3 while squeezing the batter into the oil and then increased it to 4 till it's crispy.

Why are my jalebis not absorbing the sugar syrup?

• No need to make single string consistency sugar syrup for this jalebi, sticky consistency is perfect and it's easily absorbed by jalebis too.
• Make sure that the jalebis and the sugar syrup is warm, it will help to absorb the syrup easily. 

Home made Jalebi

Preparation Time : 24 hr | Cooking Time : 30 mins | Makes : 35-40 
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
How to make Jalebi, Jalebi recipe, Crispy Jalebi, Juicy Jalebi Jabeli, the most famous Indian sweet throughout the world. It's made from deep frying the fermented batter and then dipped in saffron flavored sugar syrup.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
For Batter
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Corn flour - 3 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Curd - 2/3 cup
Orange food color - a pinch
Water - as needed
For Sugar Syrup
Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Lemon - 1/2
Saffron - few strands

Procedure

Take all the ingredients for the jalebi batter, in a bowl, add the curd and whisk it until it becomes creamy.

Then add the all purpose flour,corn flour and food color. Mix it well with the curd.

Add the ghee and the required water and make the batter as lump free and easy flowing.

Cover it with lid and let it aside for 24hrs to ferment.

After 24 hrs, the batter should be all bubbly and has strong sour smell. Mix it well with laddle and check the consistency again. It should be free flowing.

Let's make sugar syrup before frying the jalebis. Take the sugar in a sauce pan, add the water and saffron.

Bring into boil and keep it simmer until the sugar syrup becomes sticky.Switch off the flame &  squeeze the lemon juice , mix it well & set aside.

To fry the jalebi, heat the oil for frying, pour the batter into zip lock bag and make a small hole at the end.

Once the oil is heated(add a drop of batter into the oil, it should  takes 3-4 secs to float on the top, that's the correct temperature of oil), squeeze the batter into the oil as concentric circles. Cook it both sides of the jalebis are crispy. 

Take it out from the oil and drop it in the sugar syrup and let it in the syrup for 10-15 secs and remove it on the plate. Do the same for the remaining batter.

Tada,Crispy & Juicy  Jalebis are ready. 

Related : How to make Jangiri

Notes:

• On the day that i have prepared the batter, the room temperature at my place is between 72-76 F and it takes exactly 24 hrs to ferment as expected.
• I just placed the batter on the counter. No need to place inside the oven and turn on light.
• Store it in a dry container and it stays well for days.
• When it's warm, it's crispy and juicy. Once it's completely cooled and after a day,it became soft.