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plate of freshly fried jalebis stacked in spirals

Indian Jalebi

Jalebi is a crispy, juicy Indian dessert made by frying spirals of fermented batter and soaking them in fragrant sugar syrup. Sweet, sticky, and crunchy, it’s a festive treat that you can easily make at home with a few simple ingredients.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Indian
Calories: 220
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the batter:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour maida
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • ½ cup plain yogurt
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • Water as needed to make smooth batter
  • 2 –3 drops orange food coloring
For the sugar syrup:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ tsp cardamom powder
  • ½ tsp lemon juice
  • Optional: a few saffron strands
For frying:
  • Ghee or neutral oil

Method
 

Make the syrup:
  1. Heat sugar and water in a pan. Stir until dissolved. Add cardamom and saffron. Simmer until syrup is sticky (one-string consistency). Add lemon juice. Keep warm.
Prepare the batter:
  1. In a bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, yogurt, and baking powder. Slowly add water until it’s thick like pancake batter. Stir in orange food coloring.
Fill piping bag:
  1. Pour the batter into a squeeze bottle, piping bag, or sturdy zip-lock with a small cut in the corner.
Heat oil/ghee:
  1. Warm oil over medium heat. Test with a drop of batter—it should rise quickly without burning.
Pipe spirals:
  1. Pipe the batter into hot oil in circular spiral shapes. Fry until golden and crisp.
Soak in syrup:
  1. Dip fried jalebis into warm syrup for 30–40 seconds. Remove and serve immediately.

Notes

  • Jalebi tastes best fresh. After a few hours, it loses its crunch.
  • Use cornstarch for extra crispiness.
  • Don’t skip the lemon juice—it keeps syrup from turning grainy.
  • For authentic flavor, fry in ghee instead of oil.