Rabri Jalebi Lucknow Festival Sweet

Method

1. 1

   Make jalebi batter and rest: Combine maida, gram flour, dry yeast (or sour yogurt) and a pinch of turmeric in a bowl. Add warm water gradually — about 3/4 cup — stirring to make a smooth, thick batter (like thick cream). Beat well to remove lumps. Cover and rest for 45 to 60 minutes until small bubbles form at the surface — a sign of fermentation.

2. 2

   Make the rabri: Bring 750 ml full-fat milk to a boil in a wide pot. Reduce to medium. Cook stirring every 3 minutes for 30 to 35 minutes until reduced by half. Scrape the cream from sides back into the milk each time. Add sugar, saffron milk and cardamom powder. Stir. Keep warm or at room temperature. The rabri should be thick and slightly clotted — with visible cream layers.

3. 3

   Make jalebi sugar syrup: Combine sugar, water and saffron in a pan. Heat stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes until one-string consistency — press a cooled drop between thumb and finger, one thin thread forms. Add cardamom powder. Keep warm on the lowest heat.

4. 4

   Fill jalebi batter into a squeeze bottle: Pour the rested, bubbly batter into a squeeze bottle with a 4 to 5 mm hole, or into a piping bag, or use a plastic zip-lock bag with a small hole cut in one corner.

5. 5

   Heat oil: Heat oil to medium-high in a wide, shallow pan — oil should be about 3 cm deep.

6. 6

   Pipe the spirals: Squeeze the batter in a circular spiral pattern into the hot oil — 3 to 4 concentric circles about 6 cm in diameter. Make several at a time.

7. 7

   Fry until crispy: Fry for 1 to 1.5 minutes until firm and golden. Flip carefully. Fry 1 more minute. Remove immediately — do not over-fry.

8. 8

   Soak in syrup: Immediately drop the fried jalebi into the warm sugar syrup. Soak for 1 minute on each side. Remove.

9. 9

   Serve with rabri: Place 3 to 4 warm syrup-soaked jalebi on each plate. Spoon the cold rabri alongside or pour it over the jalebi. Top with sliced pistachio.

10. 10

    Eat together: The jalebi must be eaten immediately while warm and crispy. As you eat, mix pieces of crispy jalebi into the cold rabri — the warm crunch against the cold cream is the experience.

11. 11

    Note: Rabri Jalebi is the signature sweet of Holi celebrations, winter festivals and important occasions in Lucknow, Mathura and Agra. The sweet shops of Mathura open before 6 am on festival mornings and the aroma of jalebi frying in ghee draws people from their beds. The rabri must be at room temperature or slightly cold and the jalebi must be very hot and crispy — the temperature and texture contrast is the entire point.