Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Jilebi / Jalebi

Diwali, the festival of lights (and sweets!), is here. Back home, these days would be filled with light and the sounds of crackers and fireworks. I am missing all that, being in this part of the world. Another main attraction of Diwali is all the different varieties of sweets that are made at home or become available in stores during that time. So this year I wanted to make something too, which is when I landed upon this simple recipe of Jalebi/Jilebi in Vanitha magazine. It was a super simple recipe that I could not help trying and Jalebis have always been (and still is) a weakness of mine!


Print / Save this Recipe

Makes around 40 Jilebis (Depending on the size)

For the dough
Urad Dal- 1 cup
Water- 1/2 cup
Yellow Food Color- 4 drops (Optional)
Refined Oil- as needed to fry

For the syrup
Water- 1 1/4 cups
Sugar- 2 cups
Rosewater- 1 tbsp
Yellow food color- 2 drops (Optional)
Salt - less than a pinch


  1. Soak the Urad dal for at least 1 hour.
  2. Grind the soaked dal into a smooth paste adding half a cup of water.
  3. Add 3-4 drops of food color to this dough and mix well.
  4. In a pan start boiling the water and sugar together for making the syrup.
  5. When the syrup starts to thicken, add the rosewater, salt and 2 drops of food color.
  6. When the syrup reaches a thick consistency, turn the stove to low. The syrup should be on the stove on low flame through out the whole cooking process. Syrup should not be of a thread consistency, but rather that of a simple syrup or syrup of Gulab Jamun. If the water starts to become of thread consistency during the cooking process, add more water and adjust.
  7. In a shallow frying pan, add oil and heat. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium which is the temperature to be maintained through out the frying process.
  8. Fill the dough into a Ziploc bag and make a small cut at one of the corners to squeeze the dough into the oil to make jalebis. Make sure that the hole you make is really small. You could adjust the size of the hole after trying to squeeze out a little bit of batter to the oil. 
  9. Start squeezing out the dough into the oil in any pattern you want.
  10. Fry the jalebis crisp and transfer immediately to the sugar syrup.
  11. Let the jalebi soak in the syrup for 5-8 minutes. 
  12. Remove from the syrup and place it on the serving plate.
Note: Start making the jalebi as soon as the dough is made; do not let it sit too long.


As you can see it is a super simple recipe with very little ingredients. Be sure to try it and I am sure you will like it. A Happy Diwali to all my friends!

26 comments:

  1. nice recipe and mouthwatering jalebis...

    Happy Diwali!!

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  2. Jalebis looks so delicious..:) Happy Diwali to you dear. Festive days reminds so much of home.. Surely these sweet treats are a consolation..:)
    Enjoy..
    Reva

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  3. oooh one of my favs..love them hot off the oil

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  4. Delicious looking jilebis :)

    Wish you a very happy diwali :)

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  5. Looks so inviting. Wishing you and your family a very Happy Diwali.

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  6. great jalebis dear...looks delicious !

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  7. Happy 2 follow...........Hope u would drop at my space.......

    Jalebi looks so tempting and delicious

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  8. Wonderful Jilebis. I need some.

    Do participate in the Desserts with Coconuts event and giveaway on my blog.
    http://rakshaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/12/announcing-my-first-event-and-giveaway.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. You are amongst the first food blogs I got introduced to. it is my pleasure to invite you to my first blog event plus giveaway - Valentines Special. Do check it out and be a part of it. Would be great if you were there..!

    My event- Valentines Day Special

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  10. jalebi looks so crispy n yummy...bookmarked.....nice space vth tasty recipes and nice cliks too.....happy to visit here.. visit me in my space when u find sum time..

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  11. What a beautifully presented blog... Looks great and I am sure the jalebis are to die for. I am new to food blogs... have dabbled in it for a couple of months now and I would love you pay a visit. eatpassionately.blogspot.com :) Once again well!

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  12. ഇത് കണ്ടപ്പോള്‍ ഒരു സിനിമയില്‍ സലീന്‍ കുമാര്‍ പറഞ്ഞ ഒരു ഡയലോഗാണ് ഓര്മ വന്നത്.. " കുട്ടിക്ക് കുറച്ചു ലിലേഫിയും ലഡുവും എടുക്കട്ടെ എന്ന് :)) എന്നാലും നന്നായിരുക്കുന്നു കൊതിയൂറും ജിലെബിക്ക്‌ നന്ദി

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  13. i love munching warm jalebis, they look delicious

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  14. Nice blog :)
    salam kenal sobat :)
    di tunggu kunjungan balik.nya ya !terimakasih ...

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  15. Hi Fathima. Nice blog. I've bookmarked your baklava. Not sure if you remember me. Jannet who used to work at ustri early 2000. I am new to blogosphere and chanced upon your site. If you get the time peep through myfoodtreasures.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Looks perfect :) And happy to find your lovely space seems like you have a lot of yummy collections here :) Glad to follow you!!
    Cream Of Chicken Soup - Easier Way
    60 Days to Christmas - Event & Giveaway

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  17. Superb looking jalebi.. and so perfectly done..

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  21. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  22. we can gorge on these jalebis all time, even more with saffron milk especially now while its drizzling all day... :-)

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  23. Hey,
    I like to try making new dishes. Also I really like the jalebi
    Chatarpatar

    ReplyDelete