Jalebi

Ingredients:
For Jalebi Batter:

Maida/Plain Flour                            - 1 1/2 cup
Cornstarch                                        - 2 tblspoon
Yeast                                                 - 1 tspoon
Oil                                                     - 2 tspoon + for frying
Yogurt                                               - 4 tspoon
Saffron Powder                                 - a pinch
Yellow/Orange Food Colour            - 2 drops (I use yellow for Jalebi and orange for Imarti)
Sugar                                                 - 1/2 tespoon
Water                                                 - 2 tblspoon for yeast + Mixing the batter
Cardamom Powder                            - a pinch

Sugar Syrup:
Sugar                                                   - 1 1/2 cup 
Cardamom Powder                              - 2 pinch
Saffron Threads                                   - 2-3 crushed
Lemon Juice                                        - 1 tspoon
Rose/Kewra Essence                           - for flavoring of syrup (Optional)
Water                                                   - 1 cup

Method:

For Jalebi Batter:
In a deep mixing bowl, add Maida, Cornstarch, Yeast, Yogurt, Sugar, Cardamom Powder, Saffron powder and oil. Mix it well, Now add water to it and blend using a hand blender. Using a hand blender will give you a smooth lump free batter. If saffron doesn't give very bright colour to the batter add few drops of food colour. 
Now keep this batter for overnight fermentation.
Sometimes people just mix yeast and use the batter to make Jalebis right away but I find those instant Jalebis less flavorful and crispy. I keep the batter for overnight fermentation when I mix yeast to it.
If I do not mix yeast I keep the batter for at-least 24 hours to get fermented.
Adding the food colour is totally optional. I saw some Halwai and my mum doing that so is the reason I add it.
It's great to keep your batter a bit on thicker side before fermentation, as after fermentation the consistency changes.

For sugar Syrup:
15 minutes before frying the Jalebi, take a medium size wide pan.
Add sugar and water to it and bring it to boil. Now reduce the heat to low and simmer.
Now add saffron thread, cardamom and lemon juice to it. Mix it well. Simmer for few minutes and switch off the flame.
You can add the rose/Kewra essence at this time.
All theis will take approximately 10 minutes. By this time, when syrup will start to cool down you will have 1 sting syrup.
Now keep this pot just next to the pan, which you are going to fry Jalebis.
Adding lemon juice prevents the syrup in crystallization of sugar.

Frying Jalebis:
Take another wide Pan/Karahi. It should not be very deep but should be wide enough.
Take at-least 2.5 inch of oil in the pan for frying Jalebis. Let the oil heat up on medium flame.
Now lets check the batter of Jalebis. By this time you batter will be fluffy and airy. You can also smell the fermentation from the batter.

Now check the consistency of the batter. Mix it with the beater slowly and check if it very thick.
Take a spoon and pour the batter from height and it should pour like ribbon. Refer the picture.

If your batter is thick, add little water to it and mix well. Do not add a lot of water, add little by little using a spoon.
Take a squeezable bottle with a nozzle. Fill the batter up in the bottle.

To test the oil temperature, drop a small quantity of batter to the oil. It should come up sizzling to the top of the oil taking 1-2 second without loosing their shape. Take more time in coming up means oil isn't hot enough. Coming to the top right away means the oil is too hot.
If oil is too hot keep the pan of away from heat for few minutes and let it's temperature go down a bit. If the oil isn't hot enough do the batter test again until you get the right amount of heat in the oil.
Now Squeeze the batter out of the nozzle, applying constant pressure and making 3-4 concentric circles in the oil and sealing them in the middle.

Work from inside to outside. It takes time and experience to get proper shape and it gets better and better batch after every batch.

Sometimes I make the Jalebis in a long joint shapes like Halwais.











Do not fry more than 3-4 Jalebis in a batch. 
Once you have shaped the Jalebis in hot oil, in 2-3 seconds they will come up without loosing their shape, flip and let turn golden on the other side too. 
Once golden, take out of from the hot oil, tilting the spider or frying spoon so that excess oil is drained.
Add the fried Jalebis to the lukewarm (not hot)syrup. 

Let Jalebis soak for not more than few seconds (like 20-25) and take out again tilting the ladle to drain excess syrup else they will break and turn soggy.

Fry up all the Jalebis and soak in syrup. Serve warm Jalebis with yogurt or milk.
Store the ready Jalebis to the room temperature.
The right texture of the Jalebi will be crispy outside and when you bite them they are filled with syrup.