Written By Pranaaya Todi (Grade 5)
My favourite dish is “Jalebi”. It is a spiral-shaped sweet which is juicy and crispy. It is made of maida (all-purpose flour), chana daal (gram flour), sugar syrup and a hint of saffron.
According to sources, the history of the Jalebi can be traced back thousands of years ago to the thirteenth century in Persia. The invaders got this to India as it was so delicious. The Jalebi is known by various names throughout India such as Jilapi, Zulbia, Jerry, Mushabak and many more. Jalebi is most popular in Madhya Pradesh in India where people queue up on winter mornings to have a bite of this hot and delicious treat. The jalebi can be eaten as it is or one can enjoy it with hot milk or rabri or cold ice cream. The possibilities of its combinations are endless. My mother makes this at home on special occasions. She makes a batter of all the ingredients and lets it ferment for a day. Once the batter is fermented it’s ready to be cooked and served hot. She then makes sugar syrup and adds saffron for colour and aroma. Then in a flat pan she heats up ghee (clarified butter) and makes concentric circles using the batter. Once fried they are soaked in the sugar syrup and served hot. The biggest jalebi is the size of a dinner plate sold in a club named BRC in Kolkata. Though it is so huge it is always juicy and crispy.
We go to the BRC club on special occasions like my father’s birthday and special holidays and enjoy the jalebi. Eating it gives me warmth and comfort and I love this sweet a lot.
Featured Image Courtesy – Indian Recipes Hindi Mai
