Giant Sized Jalebi; Indian Funnel Cake

Jalebi is one of my favourite childhood sweets. It is a deep-fried sweet which is then soaked in sugar syrup. I decided that making a giant version of it would be interesting as well as fun. I find this very quick to make and gives me a taste of home!

I hope you will enjoy them as much I as I did :)

- Piping/sandwich bags such as Ziplock bags.

Ingredients

Jalebi Batter

- 2-3 tbsp water

- 1/2 tsp instant yeast*

- 1 tsp granulated sugar

- 1 cup all-purpose flour

- 1 tbsp gram/chickpea flour

- 2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)

(optional) 2 drops orange food colouring/ 1 tsp turmeric

Sugar Syrup

- 1 cup water

- 1 1/2 cup sugar

- 2-3 green cardamom pods

(optional) 2 cloves

In a large bowl, add in the all-purpose and gram flour, and ghee. Pour in the bloomed yeast and gently start mixing it in. Slowly, add water and mix into a smooth consistency. It should end up being slightly thin but not too runny.

For colour, you can use food colouring or turmeric, but he is not necessary. I tried adding both thinking it would bring a bright colour. It ended up looking fine, and if using turmeric add about 1-2 teaspoons.

Place your piping bag into a cup for fast and easy pouring. Tie the top with a rubber band for safety. I used a sandwich bag and forgot to tie it up, but thankfully nothing oozed out. Cut off about 1 cm at the edge of the bag. To stop the batter from flowing out, keep it back in the cup, the open end facing up towards the ceiling.

Add in, cloves, mashed cardamom pods, water and sugar to a pan, and simmer over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, then to a boil until it has a thick consistency (about another 5 minutes). The syrup should not be too thick otherwise, the Jalebi might not be able to be soaked.

Heat the oil (medium-high heat), test with a drop of batter to check if it is hot enough. If the batter falls to the bottom of the pan it is not hot yet.

Jalebi's basic shape is a spiral. Make the spiral with the batter, from the middle and go out from there. Keep some space between the spiral lines so they don't touch. It's not a huge problem if they touch, they just don't become crispy. When you are almost at the end of the spiral, you can make a heart shape by moving it up, and bring back into the middle, which gives of a shape that resembles a heart. Mine wasn't that accurate, but a lot messier. It is a good idea to practice before making the final one.

Let it fry to a slightly dark orange colour, but be careful not to burn it. Once it is fried, let the oil all drip from it and transfer to the syrup. Make sure that both sides are coated in the syrup and let it soak for 2-3 minutes.

Serve in a plate that fits your Jalebi, and enjoy! This dessert can be eaten warm or cold, as you wish.

I hope that you can try this dessert and if it is new to you, I hope you might like the taste of a South- Asian dessert.

thanks for reading :)