Jalebi/jilapi/mushabak is a Persian-indian sweet snack popular worldwide. This bright yellow-orange sweet flower shaped dessert can be served warm or cold. Below is a healthier yet traditional jalebi recipe that taste just as good as the ones you buy from mithaiwalas (indian street sweet vendors) of north India. How I developed this recipe- Mysore pak, kaju pista katli, varieties of laddoos.. all are my favourite indian sweets and so are yummy jalebis. But today, what we get in shops as jalebis are pretty much adulterated with low quality sugar, bleached flour and high quantities of cheap food color. That’s exactly why I wanted to create a recipe for homemade jalebi but without compromising on taste.After many references and trying the easiest to hardest versions of the same, I ended up with a refined recipe that’s easy to follow, rightly sweet and does not use artificial food colors too. What’s special about this recipe- Easy-peasy- As the batter is 
quite simple and so is the technique you may not have to go shopping to find the basic ingredients listed below. As I have used a squeeze bottle instead of a piping bag, it’s also a fail proof recipe when it comes to creating the jalebi flowers in the oil. Healthier version- Unlike store bought jalebis that uses mostly low quality sugar , bleached flour and food colors, this recipe uses a combination of good quality white flour and chickpea flour adding natural colours and flavours from turmeric, saffron, cardamom and rose water. What’ll you need- For the batter-. 1 cup all-purpose flour. 1 and 1/4 tablespoons gram flour. 2 teaspoons cornflour . 8 tablespoons curd. Water-as required (if needed). 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder . Veg. Oil (canola/sunflower..) for frying.. 1 tablespoon ghee For the syrup-. 1.5 cups water. 1 cup sugar. 1 pinch saffron strands . Half tablespoon rose water. 2-3 cardamoms. Half tablespoon lemon juice How to make- For the syrup-
- Combine water and sugar in a pan and stir until dissolved.
- Add the cardamoms & saffron strands and heat until it reaches nearly a one-string consistency.
- Now, switch of the flame & add rose water and lemon juice.
For the batter-
- Combine all the ingredients and add water spoon by spoon (if required) to get a batter with a similar consistency of an yellow cake batter.
- Cover it and ferment in a warm place (preferably in a closed oven with lights on) for 8-11 hou
- Heat oil and ghee in a deep bottom frying kadai/wok (half level of the vessel). Fill the squeeze bottles with fluffy fermented batter and tighten the nozzles.
- Create floral shaped tight swirl patterns of jalebis in hot oil and fry both sides for approximately 1 minute each or until before browning.
- Drain them and dip into the syrup to soak up the flavour and sweetness.
- After you are done with the entire batch, drain the jalebis resting in the sugar syrup to the serving plate.
Notes, tips and suggestions-
- This jalebis can be eaten right away or chilled. It keeps good in the refrigerator for 2-4 days.
- If you are in a hurry , you could just skip the fermentation process by stirring in a sachet of unflavoured eno fruit salt into the batter just before filling the squeeze bottles to pipe it out into the hot oil.
- Garnish your jalebis with saffron strands/rose petals/ chopped assorted nuts/silver foil.
- Jalebis tastes great with rabri or vanilla ice cream or even just as it is.