Jalebi Recipe

Jalebi Recipe is a sweet Indian dessert made by deep-frying batter made from Maida and Cornflour and soaked in sugar syrup.  Jalebi is a “Celebration Sweet” served during all festivals like Diwali,  Ramadan and occasions like wedding receptions, pooja and even on national holidays like Independence day.

Jalebi is a “Celebration Sweet” served during all festivals like Diwali, Ramadan and occasions like marriages, pooja and even on national holidays like Independence day.

Jalebi is a very popular desert in North India and people usually eat it hot after dipping in milk. In fact its one of the most popular Sweet Dish, made and enjoyed almost in every part of India. If made correct, Jalebi will have that crunchy flavor which is further enhanced by sugary exterior coating. The key point in archiving this crunchiness is in the thickness of the batter and frying temperature. It is also very important that consistency of batter is correct, it should not be too thick or thin.  If you will fry Jalebi on high temperature then it will break, and will not be crisp from inside, and If you will fry it on low temperature then it will soak more oil and will not be that crunchy, hence you should always cook Jalebi on medium heat.  If you are new to making Jalebi, then you may not be able to make perfect Jalebi in first try, but after few batches you will get the Idea about correct frying temperature. While testings, I found 160 C / 320 F to be correct temperature, you can start some where from 150 C / 300 F and then increase the temperature.

Lets start making  hot Jalebi  at home. For complete list of  Jalebi Recipe Ingredients and step by step method, please refer to recipe snippet bellow. You can also take a printout from our Recipe Snippet.

Jalebi Recipe (Step by Step):

You will need 1 Cup Maida (All purpose flour / Refined flour)  and 1/4th cup corn flour, 1 cup curd, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/4 tea spoon red or orange food color or turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp Baking Powder.  Color or turmeric powder are optional and we are using them just for coloring. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix them well.   Refrigerate this batter in fridge for 12-24 hours for fermentation to take place.  If you want to make quick Jalebi then you may add active yeast in place of baking powder and keep it aside for 1 hour before start making Jalebi. Take out the batter and put the batter in a squeeze bottle or plastic bag with the hole.  I am using squeeze bottle because it was available with me and I find it easy to just squeeze the batter from it. Take oil in a pan and heat it to about 150 C / 160 C or about 300F to 320 F.Slowly squeeze batter in a pan and  try to make a Jalebi shape rounds. If oil is too hot Jalebi shape will break.  In that case turn off the gas and wait for 2-4 minutes and let the oil cool and try again. Be creative, you may not get it right in first time but practice will make you perfect.  If you are making Jalebi first time, try to make one by one till you are perfect.While our Jalebi is frying, take a separate bowl, put 1 cup sugar in it.Put enough water so that sugar is below the water.  Make sure not to put too much water or you will have to dry it.Cook the sugar on low heat till its thick and looks like sugary syrup or chasni. Make sure to keep it stirring to ovoid burning of sugar. Coat the Jalebi in warm sugar syrup.  If syrup is warm, it will not stick much and Jalebi will come out quickly. If sugar syrup is cold, Jalebi will remain stuck in syrup. Take out Jalebi and try to serve them hot.Your Jalebi is now ready.  You can also pour sugar syrup after plating them.

How to make Jalebi at home:

For further reading you may visit Jalebi at wikipedia.