As much as India is known for its wide range of spices, it is the desserts from the sub-continent that are often the highlight of the cuisine. Laddoos, barfis, halwas are usual suspects when you enter an Indian sweet shop. In fact, each region has their own special sweets like Bengali sandesh and cham cham. Then there are some others that are ubiquitous. Jalebi is one of them. For those untouched by the phenomenon, jalebi is a crispy dessert that looks like an entangled loop. Bright orange in colour, the jalebi is deep-fried and then dunked in oodles of sugar syrup.
Recently, the name jalebi popped up in the news after a Vietnamese woman tried jalebi for the first time in the US. Sitting at a restaurant in California, the food blogger was accompanied by her Indian friend Pratik Bhakta, who made her try this famous Indian dessert. Excitedly waiting for her jalebis to arrive, the blogger’s reaction leaves the netizens in aww once she tries the sweet. The blogger @foodwithsoy shared the reel on her Instagram handle. Take a look.
Source: Food With Soy/Instagram
In the video, the blogger waits patiently as her friend arrives at the table with two jalebis wrapped in a tissue. She holds the jalebi in her hand and shows it to the camera saying that she is excited to try the dessert because she has seen it online a lot. One bite in, she loves the syrupy taste of the sweetmeat as well as the crispy texture. She goes on to compare it with a funnel cake, as the method of preparation for the two seems quite similar to her. As per the caption, she tried the jalebi at Surati Farsan Mart in California. She also remarks, “It reminds me of really well done funnel cake dipped in saffron syrup. Have you had it before?” in her caption.
The video has garnered a plethora of loved reactions and comments ever since. While grooving to the tunes of Jalebi Baby by Jason Derulo, let’s try some of these amazing jalebi combinations that Indians totally swear by.
1. Jalebi Rabri
This is one classic jalebi combo that you just cannot miss. The crispy, deep-fried sweet is dipped in sugar syrup. The cold and creamy rabri is poured over the jalebi, giving it a hearty taste. Rabri, for the uninitiated, is a sweet and creamy mixture made from condensed milk. It is so commonly eaten together that oftentimes, you might find people saying it together like it’s one name.
2. Poha Jalebi
This is a quintessential Indori food combination that is also popular in Bhopal and other parts of Madhya Pradesh. The flattened rice dish which is spruced up with onions, tomatoes, potatoes and peanuts, is often garnished with crunchy sev and served with a side of sweet jalebi. This is the staple breakfast in the city of Indore.
3. Doodh Jalebi
If you don’t want to get all drowsy and lazy by relishing jalebi with rabri, we’ve got another variation that might slightly cut down on your calories. It is called doodh jalebi. Hot, flavoured milk is mixed with some chopped nuts and served with crispy sweet jalebis.
4. Jalebi Ice Cream
Oh yes, just like the gulab jamun and ice cream combination has won several hearts in the past, it is time for some jalebi ice cream. You can opt for a simple vanilla ice cream so that it doesn’t overpower the flavour of jalebi or pair it with a scoop of rabri-flavoured ice cream. Dunk it on your stack of jalebis and you’ll definitely not regret it.
Did you know the twisty and zig-zag jalebis actually belong to the Middle-East and were never really Indian? These were known as zalibiya back then and the Arabic version had eggs in it. However, the Indian adaptation does not contain eggs but tastes delicious.
