Diwali synonyms

sweetness …

brightness…

silence….

 

sweetness gives brightness

and that is blissful silence..

 

happy diwali and hearty thanks to radha cookery ….

thank U friend

~Poet VairaBarathi~

Jalebis are crispy, fried sweets that are like thin flutes filled with syrup inside. Many Bollywood movies have devoted a few scenes in the praise of this food item. This is one of my two favorite sweets besides Mysore Pak. Jalebis are best enjoyed when they are hot off the stove. As a child, whenever I used to complain of stomach pain, my grandmother used to buy me a few jalebis from the neighboring sweet stall. So I frequently used to fake stomach aches and for some reason my grandmother used to indulge me. Now I understand that she knew that I one day I would get married and leave the house. So she used to pamper me as much as she could. Today if I feel like eating jalebis, I’ve to make it by myself. We don’t have any sweet stalls here in San Antonio. No regrets as grandmother taught me how to make them. My grandmother is no more, but every time I see jalebis, I feel a little emotional and secretly wipe a tear off my eyes. Diwali was one time my grandmother used to sit in the center of the huge covered outdoor porch and spread a shop. Nothing was for sale, but she made these huge batches of snacks for all friends and relatives. She used to single handedly make murukkus, jalebis, athirisam, mysore pak, jamoon, mixture, cashew burfi, and so many more sweets and snacks. I would steal her coconut burfis, hide myself behind the Sapota tree and relish eating it while it was still warm. I have some really fond memories of Diwali with my grandmother and my father.

Fermentation time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
About 40 small jalebis or about 24 large ones

Ingredients:

For Jalebi Batter

• All-Purpose Flour or Maida – 1 cup
• Besan or chick peas flour – 2 tsp (corn flour can be substituted, 2 tsp)
• Oil – 1 tsp
• Yogurt – 1 Tbsp
• Luke warm Water – 3/4 cup
• Yeast, 1 tsp soaked in 3 Tbsp warm water + 1 tsp sugar (The water should look foamy after 5 minutes, then the yeast mixture is ready)
• Red or Yellow food coloring (optional) 4 drops

Making Syrup:

• Water – 1 cup
• Sugar – 1 Cup
• Saffron – 1 tsp, crushed between fingers
• Lemon Juice – 1 tsp
• Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp (preferred)
• Or Rose Water, 1 tsp

For frying:

A heavy bottomed deep vessel.

Oil, ghee, or a mixture of both. About 2 inches of depth is required.

Slotted spoon

Method:

Readying the batter:

In a large mixing bowl, add All-purpose Flour or maida and besan and mix well.

To the dry powders, add oil, yogurt, and water, mix very well. Make sure there are no lumps. Add the foamy yeast water and mix well again.

Put a warm and wet (not dripping and soaking) towel to cover the bowl, and place in the microwave or oven to retain the heat.

Do not switch on the oven or microwave.

Let the batter ferment for an hour.

If the batter over ferments, it’ll be too gooey and making jalebis may be tough. If the weather is very warm, then check the batter in 30 minutes.

If the batter has risen and has holes in it, it’s ready.

Mix the batter well and add it to a ketchup/mustard bottle or a ziplock bag with a tiny hole in the bottom.

Syrup and Frying:

The syrup should be hot, so it’s wise to start on the syrup while the batter is almost ready.

In a thick bottomed deep vessel, add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, saffron and cook on medium heat till all the sugar has melted.

Keep stirring often, the syrup should be ready in just a few minutes.

Reduce the flame to mild, add the elaichi powder and lemon juice.

Lemon juice will prevent the sugar syrup from turning into hard crystals.

During the middle of the syrup making process, Heat another thick bottomed vessel.

Add oil, ghee, or a mixture of oil and ghee and set it on medium heat.

Now your syrup is ready, and oil should be really hot, not smoking (adjust heat of oil for frying, when you add a drop of jalebi batter, it should float up and start browning immediately) should be ready.

Turn off the heat of the Syrup, but let the vessel remain on the stove itself.

If you feel the syrup is thickening, turn on the stove and set it on low flame.

Have tongs or a slotted spoon ready.

Set a large plate ready into which you’ll be dunking the fried jalebis into.

Have another slotted spoon ready for frying the jalebis.

Some people add the fried jalebis to the syrup and let it sit there for a long time.

Many prefer to keep the jalebis in the syrup for about a minute or two and remove it immediately.

Choice is yours. I usually keep mine in the syrup for approximately two minutes.

I like making medium sized jalebis (about 3 inches in diameter).

Making these jalebis is tiring. Better to do it with a friend or hubby.

No phones, nothing to distract.

Couple of wet towels and some paper towels to clean the syrup and batter drippings would be great.

Take the jalebi batter and squeeze the bottle or the ziplock bag and make circles in the hot oil.

When you finish off the circling, make sure the tip is not loose. Let the thin end connect with another part of the jalebi.

Flip only once, that too very gently.

Use tongs, I feel slotted spoon works best.

Remove the jalebi, shake off the excess oil, (very carefully) and dunk the jalebi into the sugar syrup.

Let it sit there for some time, remove with tongs or slotted spoon, and gently move it into a plate.

Try to shake off the excess syrup before setting it on the plate.

The best way to eat jalebi according to my hubby is to dunk a really hot off the stove jalebi into a bowl of cold kheer and eat it immediately!