Jalebi Revisited

It is my favorite time of the year! Sravana is here and the season of eating  has begin. We celebrated Varamahalaxmi habba last Friday.  Looking forward for Janmashtami this Weekend and Gowri-Ganesh soon after wards. So the season of eating has officially begin. With this comes a series of yummy goodies, sweets and all.

My love for Jalebi is legendary in my family circles!  I did win the Jalebi eating competition back in college, though it was not for quantity that I won, probably I would have won that too, but for eating a single Jalebi which was tied to a swinging sting overhead! So much so that my sister would spin the song "Love ke li ye saala kuch bhi karega" to "Jalebi ke li ye sala kuch bhi karega...".

After many attempts to make the perfect Jalebi, I think I m almost there. First I needed to list out the qualitites that makes a Jalebi good.

1. It must be crunchy
2. It must have  cavity inside to soak up the syrup and become juicy.

3. The sugar syrup should taste good with a hint of flavor.
4. Jalebi should stay crisp for a few days.
5. There should be just a hint of tartness.

The secret to making good Jalebis is fairly simple. Fermentation!
If we get to ferment our batter well, the Jalebis are a breeze to make.  The recipe is the same as was posted in my older post here.

But of course it is the fermentation in the process that made all the difference. This time around I sat the batter for one whole day instead of overnight. I could see the yeast action and small air bubbles in the batter before I started making the Jalebis. I reduced the amount of cornflour too, now I would say about 1/6 of a measure instead of 1/3 of a measure previously  noted in my recipe. I was happy with my results this time around.They were very good and disappeared in no time.

Some points to remember

1. Use organic cane sugar instead of the regular sugar (here in the USA). Indian sugar is just fine. The regular American sugar sort of leaves a chemical after taste which ruins the Jalebi. They work fine for cakes and Ladoos but a definite no no for Jalebi.

2. Always use Ghee in the fat used to deep fry the Jalebi. A few tables spoons of Ghee for a cup of refined oil will do too. But the flavour of ghee in the Jalebi takes it up a few notches.

3. To aid fermentation, I left the Yogurt on the counter top overnight so it is really tart to start with. This make the fermentation easy. I also added a teaspoon of sugar in my batter to kick start the fermentation.

4. The sugar syrup should be just about one thread consistency. Remove the sugar syrup to a cooler bowl once the desired consistency is achieved. Leaving in the same pot makes the syrup thicker and that makes it difficult for the Jalebis to absorb the syrup. Alternately stop shy of one thread consistency and the heat of the pot will help achieve the desired consistency.

5. Finally add a little flavoring to the syrup either saffron/ Elachi (i love) or a few drops of rose water (heavenly)

This one for more Jalebi making!! By the way I like mine one the golden side, it makes the Jalebi crisp and heavenly. So I made a few batches that were golden and a few that were not.