Jelebi (deep fried batter sweets)
4 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | cups | Plain flour |
| ½ | cup | Rice flour |
| 7 | grams | Fresh compressed yeast or |
| ½ | teaspoon | Dried yeast |
| ½ | cup | Lukewarm water |
| ¼ | teaspoon | Saffron strands |
| 2 | tablespoons | Boiling water |
| 1 | tablespoon | Yoghurt |
| Vegetable oil for frying | ||
| 3 | cups | Sugar |
| 3 | cups | Water |
| 1 | tablespoon | Light corn syrup |
| Rose essence to flavour | ||
| 1½ | teaspoon | Liquid orange food colouring |
Directions
BATTER
SYRUP
Sift the flour and rice flour into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast on the warm water in a small bowl, leave to soften for 5 minutes and stir to dissolve. Put saffron strands in a cup and pour the boiling water over. Leave to soak for 10 minutes.
Pour dissolved yeast and saffron with its soaking water into a measuring jug. Add tepid water to make up 2¼ cups. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add the measured liquid to the flour and beat well until batter is very smooth. Add yoghurt and beat again. Leave to rest for 1 hour. Batter will start to become frothy. Beat vigorously again before starting to fry jelebis. (While batter stands make syrup and leave it to become just warm).
Heat vegetable oil in a deep frying pan and when hot use a funnel to pour in the batter, making circles or figures of eight. Frying, turning once, until crisp and golden on both sides. Lift out on a slotted spoon, let the oil drain for a fews seconds, then drop the hot jelebi into the syrup and soak it for a minute or two. Lift out of the syrup (using another slotted spoon) and put on a plate to drain.
Syrup: Heat sugar and water over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Raise heat and boil hard for 8 minutes; syrup should be just thick enough to spin a thread. Remove from heat, allow to cool until lukewarm, flavour with rose essence (about 1⅕ tsp of good quality essence is sufficient) and colour a bright orange with food colouring.
*Jelebis are coils of crisply fried batter with a rose-scented syrup inside the coils. How the syrup gets into the coils is a mystery unless you do some research on the subject.
This is a traditionally festive sweet. (Moghul custom) I. Chaudhary Gold Coast-Oz
Submitted By IMRAN CHAUDHARY On 08-14-95