Homemade Jalebi - Thin and Crispy

Overhead shot of crispy homemade jalebis with almond flakes sprinkled on top

Homemade Jalebi - Thin and Crispy

Thin and crispy jalebis are everyone's undoing. Make them at home now with easy step by step instructions that'll give you the best homemade jalebis every single time. Perfect for festivals like Diwali and Holi when you want a feast that doesn't take ages to make.

Course Desserts

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Servings Portions

Calories 522kcal

Author Richa

Ingredients

Levain

¼ cup All Purpose Flour maida
2 tablespoons Curd yogurt
2 tablespoons Water

Batter:

¼ cup All Purpose Flour maida
¼ cup Water

Sugar Syrup:

2 cups Sugar
2 cups Water
3 tablespoons Milk to clean the syrup
1 teaspoon Lime juice to clean the syrup
12-15 Saffron strands
2 tablespoons Ghee preferably or Oil to fry

Instructions

Whisk together ¼ cup flour with 2 tablespoons each of curd and water. Pour the paste into an airtight container which has enough space for the batter to rise slightly and leave in a warm, dry place overnight or even up to 2 days depending upon the weather. When ready, you will see small bubbles forming on the surface due to fermentation. This is the levain for the jalebis.
Heat sugar and water together, stirring occasionally till the sugar dissolves. Add 3 tablespoons milk and the lime juice to this and let it boil for a couple of minutes. You will see that the milk curdles and all the impurities in the sugar will get entangled in this scum. Collect this with a slotted spoon and discard to clean the sugar syrup. Add saffron strands and let this simmer on low till the syrup reaches a temperature of 100C/212F. It shouldn't reach the one thread consistency. Keep the syrup warm on very low heat. You can add a few teaspoons of water later if you need to thin out the syrup again.
When ready to fry the jalebis, whisk 3 tablespoons of the levain with ¼ cup of plain flour and ¼ cup of water till smooth. This batter should be of dropping consistency, neither runny nor too thick. Fill this batter into a squeezy bottle (like the one shown in the video), screw the top and leave for about 10 minutes.
Heat ghee or oil in a flat bottomed shallow pan till it reaches 176C/350F. If you don't have a thermometer, squeeze out a drop of the batter in to the pan and if it comes up at once, then the ghee is ready to fry the Jalebis.
Hold the bottle a few inches over the hot ghee and pipe out small concentric circles or spirals straight into the pan. You may make as many Jalebis as would fit into the pan, without touching each other. Once you finish piping, lower the heat to medium and fry the Jalebis, turning once or twice in between, till golden on both sides.
Lift the Jalebis out of the ghee with a slotted spoon or tongs, draining out any excess ghee and put them straight into the warm sugar syrup, pressing them gently into the syrup to soak. Lift them out of the syrup after half a minute and serve immediately.

Video

Notes

Levain: The remaining levain can be refrigerated and used again by adding more flour and water to it. Think of it as a starter. It lasts in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Ghee vs Oil for frying: Ghee is the traditional ingredient to fry jalebis and gives it an authentic taste. But if you want, you can use a neutral flavoured vegetable oil to fry these.
Colour: You may add food grade yellow color to the sugar syrup while boiling it if you want a bright yellow colour. But we recommend sticking to saffron, which adds a gorgeous colour and natural golden colour.
Pouring the batter: Jalebis are traditionally made with a mold made with several layers of cloth stitched together and a small hole cut in the middle for dropping the batter into the hot ghee. This takes skill and practice, which is why we use a squeezy bottle instead.

Nutrition