Jalebi/ Chocolate Jalebi/Chocolebi

Jalebi/ જલેબી is a twirled, sweet, juicy, syrupy, and is loved by everyone! In Gujarat, jalebis are served with fafda (a fried snack make of gramflour) and raw papaya and fried chillies. This is a popular breakfast and snack amongst Gujaratis. This Jalebi recipe is my great grandmother recipe and I have seen her preparing this delicious sweet on most of the auspicious days like jalebi navami and annakut. She had a special metal cup with a hole at the bottom to pour the jalebi batter and a cast iron flat pan to fry the jalebis. This thick cast iron pan would prevent the hot ghee temperature from falling and would make the jalebis crisp and perfect. My mom has this special cup and pan now!!

Jalebis served with fafda and raw papaya sambhariyu, a traditional Gujarati breakfast...yum yum!

Ingredients to make Jalebis

1 cup maida/all purpose flour

1 tbsp. besan/chick pea flour

2 tbsp. plain yogurt

Water

2 tbsp. ghee

1+1/2 cup sugar

Saffron strands or orange food color

Lime juice

Ghee or oil for frying jalebis

• Mix 1 cup maida/all purpose flour, 1 tbsp. besan/gram flour, 2 spoons of plain curd and little water to make a thick batter. Allow it to ferment overnight. (I like to ferment it for more than 24 hours for better results.)
• Make sugar syrup with 1+1/2 cup sugar and water enough water to submerge the sugar. Basically make 1 string consistency. Boil the syrup till sugar dissolves, add saffron/kesar/કેસર  (I  do not use food color, but you could add few drops of orange food color) and juice of 1/2 freshly squeezed lime. Set it aside. (Remember sugar syrup should just be warm when you dip the jalebis. If the syrup is very hot, jalebis will be soggy and not crisp.
• In the fermented batter add 2 tbsp of ghee or clarified butter and mix well. Fill the batter in the squeeze bottle.
• You will need ghee for frying. Use a flat bottom pan and fill 1 1/2 inch with ghee. Heat it. The temperature for frying is important...not too hot or the jalebis will immediately turn brown. If the ghee in not hot enough then the jalebis will settle at the bottom of the pan and flatten.
• So fry till they are not very dark and immediately dip them in warn sugar syrup. Jalebis have to go in the sugar syrup straight from the ghee. Do not let it rest out or cool before immersing in syrup. Soak them for about 30-45 seconds in the syrup and remove it on a plate.

Here is step-by step pictorial recipe:

Here is a short video of making jalebis

Click here for the recipe and video of Fafda

Click here for the recipe of Papaya Nu Sambhariyu

Few variations: I tried making these jalebis for an 'Indian mithai with Chocolate' competition. Firstly, I wanted to make the jalebis on the barbeque stick/skewers so that it is easy to handle and less messy. Just like jalebi pops.  Since sticks cannot be inserted into the crisp Jalebi, I inserted a stick while I twirled the batter in the hot ghee.

This has to be done one at a time.

Dip fried jalebis immediately in warn sugar syrup.

Set all the jalebis aside. Let them cool before dipping in chocolate.

I was really happy to come up with a way to hold jalebis on a barbeque stick!!

Dip the jalebis in tempered dipping chocolate and cool them on a wax paper. I used dark and milk chocolate but chocolate of different color could be used. I found pink and purple colored dipping chocolate at 'Michael's :)

Ones dipped in milk chocolate were sprinkled with chopped almonds and pistachios.

After cooling, I arranged the jalebis on a Styrofoam cone. Here is the jalebi pop bouquet! I named these jalebis dipped in chocolate as 'Chocolebis'

Chocolebis

Guess what??? Chocojalebis were really popular and it became a prize-winning recipe!! Kids as well as adults loved them and It was easy to eat like a lollipop!

I made these jalebis for the Diwali and Annakut celebration at my house!

Enjoy this crisp, juicy and flavorful jalebis! You do not need a festival to make them. Invite your friends over and serve then with cold vanilla ice-cream!