Jalebi

My husband and I love sweets and he loves Jalebis as much as he loves rasgullas. I wanted to make jalebis for him for some time now. Somehow I never got around it due to some reason or the other. Finally I found the ketchup bottle with the round pointy nozzle at walmart and got it and  decided to make these yummy treats yesterday. They turned out pretty good and tasty for a first time jalebi maker

Ofcorse the recipe - various recipe books that I own and my moms old recipe book came to my rescue - Used the yeast to make the batter ferment quickly to make instant jalebis. I remember Mom making this and letting the batter ferment overnight 

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons yogurt
3/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoon besan/gram flour
2 tablespoons rice flour
2 teaspoons melted ghee
1 teaspoon yeast
1/4 teaspoon yellow food color (optional)
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 tablespoon rose water
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
8 to 9 strands of saffron
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
oil for deep frying
chopped nuts for garnish

Method

Mix yeast and 2 teaspoons of warm water and let it ferment for about 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, add all purpose flour, gram flour and rice flour and mix well. To this and add yogurt, melted ghee and food colour along with the foamed yeast and the rest of the water and mix well with a spoon in a circular motion to form a smooth batter with no lumps. Let this batter stand for an hour and ferment - it will double in size. Mix this fermented batter again to get it smooth. Spoon the batter into the Icing bag/ketchup bottle with a small hole nozzle to get jalebis in the hot oil.
In a saucepan, add sugar and water and bring  it to a boil. Add cardamom, saffron, rose water and lemon juice and mix well for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to a very low flame or if you are using an electric stove keep it on a warm side.
Heat oil in wide pan - it should be about an inch oil from the bottom of pan. Heat the oil at medium temperature. Check the temperature of oil by dropping a tiny drop of batter into it - the batter should immediately come to the surface of the oil without changing the color. Take icing bag/ketchup bottle with the batter in it  and squeeze out the batter in circular motion into the hot oil. Turn the jalebis around to cook the other side. Fry till they are golden and crispy. Drain excess oil into the pan and place the jalebis in the sugar syrup for a minute flipping the jabeli so that sugar syrup coats both sides evenly.
Transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with chopped nuts and serve warm or cold.

Lal Bhaji / Red Amarath Leaves Kholomba (Konkani Sambar)

Ingredients

1 cup toor dal
1 onion - chopped
1 tomato - chopped
1 bunch Red Amaranth leaves
3 teaspoons kholomba masala
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon cumin/jeera
5 to 6 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1 tablespoon oil/ghee
salt to taste



Method

Clean the Red amarath leaves - only leaves and wash them very clean and then roughly chop them. Take the tender stems of the amarath and wash then and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces. Wash and cook the dal along with the amarath stems and 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker upto 3 whistles.
Once the dal is cooked - just mash it with the bottom of a ladle/spoon. To this add the kholamba powder and tamarind pulp.
In a karahi add the oil/ghee. Once it gets hot add the mustard seeds and let them splutter, then add the jeera and the curry leaves. Then add the chopped onions and mix well till they sweat and become transparent. Then add the tomatoes and mix for about 5 minutes. Then add the chopped amarath leaves and mix well and let it cook covered for about 5 to 7 minutes. To this add the dal mixture and bring it to a boil and then lower the heat and let it simmer covered for about 15 minutes. Serve with rice.