Jalebi is a fried delicacy made from maida flour, saffron, yogurt, water, and yeast, and is commonly found in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. It is soaked in rosewater flavored sugar syrup and is often served at weddings and national holidays. Jaangiri is a similar treat made with urad flour and served with different sauces.
Jalebi is the name of fried delicacies, somewhat similar to funnel cakes, but smaller and different in flavor. These delicacies are mostly made in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Depending on the region you are visiting, Jalebi may be called by its Persian name, zoolbia or zoolbiah. Another name for the treat is jaangiri, and the main difference here is that jaangiri is considered a type of jalebi made with slightly different ingredients and served with different sauces.
Typical jalebi is made from a type of wheat flour called maida flour. This is a finely ground flour that can be substituted for pastry flour in the US. Saffron is the key to making jalebi to get the yellow or orange color of any treat. Yogurt, water and yeast are the other main ingredients of the batter, which once combined is left to sit for a few hours to ferment slightly. The batter is then piped in concentric circles into hot oil to produce a crispy, slightly chewy result.
For standard jalebi, after the delicacies have been removed from the oil, or sometimes ghee, they are dipped in rosewater flavored sugar syrup. The soaking process should still leave the cakes somewhat crispy. Overmoistening can make them soggy, and some chefs recommend just drizzling a little sugar syrup over the fried jalebis to get the rosewater flavor, without minimizing the crunchy texture outside. Piping the batter in circles can also be something of a learning curve and it may take a few tries before you get everything perfectly right.
Cooks may vary the spices in the dipping or soaking sauce. In addition to rose water, some cooks add cardamom and cloves or even edible camphor. This gives each treat a complex flavor and texture: chew and crunch, warmth and sweet spice, and the delicacy of rose flavor.
Jalebis is common in various celebrations such as weddings and national holidays. In the countries where they are made, maida flour is not considered very healthy, so the treat is usually saved for special occasions. Jaangiri is also a traditional wedding food. Most of the ingredients are similar except the flour, which is called urad flour, and is usually made from ground white lentils. Jaangiri are soaked in sugar syrup but can be served with yogurt, often called curd in recipes, by dipping.
Jaangiri has a different shape. Instead of being piped in concentric circles, cooks pipe them into round flower shapes, similar to writing a series of cursive lowercase L letters and connecting them all in a circular shape. This result is very nice, but again it takes some learning to create them quickly enough so that the whole treat cooks at the same time.
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