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If you’ve been a Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma fan, we bet you would know all about Jethalal’s favourite breakfast. TMKOC, as it is popularly known, is an Indian television series that has a huge fan following in the country. Set in Mumbai’s Gokuldham society, the plot of the show revolves around the lives of the people residing in the society and their day-to-day interactions. Based on a book by Tarak Mehta, there’s also a character in the comedy series who goes by the name Tarak Mehta. A fun take on a man perspective to view the world, you would be left in splits once you start watching it.
One of the characters of the show, Jethalal, is a businessman who owns an electronics shop and is a typical Gujarati by heart. A hard-core foodie who loves his aamras and gathiya, Jethalal’s Sunday mornings are reserved for a late wake up call, post which he enjoys steaming hot fafdas with jalebi. Despite getting bashed by his father for eating too much and not exercising, he cannot resist his love for this iconic Gujarati breakfast. Do you know what is fafda jalebi?
Fafda, for the unversed, is crispy, deep-fried snack made from gram flour. The crunchy bites are usually seasoned with black pepper and hints of carom seeds. Elongated in its shape, a portion of the thick dough of gram flour is taken and rolled on a slab in a vertical manner. It is pressed hard so that it becomes a thin layer. This is then dipped in piping hot oil and fried until it turns slightly golden. While fafda is a wholesome snack in itself, it is jalebi that is most commonly paired with it in Gujarat.
All thanks to Jethalal, we discovered about this awesome combination while sitting in the comfort of our homes. For those untouched by the phenomenon, jalebi is a delightful confectionary from Indian cuisine. Although the origins trace back to Persia where it’s called zalebiya, in India, we usually call it jalebi. The spiraled shape of the jalebi is what makes it so unique. This dessert is made from a combination of gram flour and all-purpose flour, wherein the batter is filled in a pipe and rolled on a pool of hot oil in a spiral-like shape.
It turns out all crispy and bright orange. However, the making of the jalebi doesn’t end here. Next step is to dip in oodles of sugar syrup or chashni, as it is called. Then these hot and sweet items are paired with fafda and served for breakfast in Gujarati households. While fafda is more of Gujarati thing, this combination is quite prevalent in parts of Rajasthan too. On my trip to Udaipur a while back, I came across several food stalls where fafda and jalebi were being sold right early in the morning.
Not just that, jalebi and fafda also have a special mythological connection, wherein Lord Hanuman used to love all things made from gram flour and would make hot jalebis and fafdas for Lord Ram every morning. That’s the reason why Hindus prefer to eat it on Dussehra every year.
Here’s a detailed recipe of fafda jalebi that you can try at home too.
