Jeleabi

Ingredients:

This Recipe is very much traditional south Indian recipe, mostly this recipe prepared by  all south Indian families on festivals and also special occasions like   marriage.

• 2 Cups Urad dhal
• 1/2 teaspoon Yellow Kesari colour
• 3 Cups Sugar
• 2 Cups  Peanut Oil
• 6 Cardamom pods

Method:

• Soak Urad dhal in water for 4 hours. Wash it thoroughly and blend it to a smooth thick batter of piping consistency adding little water at a time.
• Best blended 2/3 cups in 3 batches with food coloring.
• For piping the batter, you can use a sturdy icing pipe with round nozzle not more than 5mm diameter.
• Make your own (like I did): Take a thick cotton cloth 1 x 1 foot; punch a hole 3mm diameter in the center of the cloth; button stitch it to strengthen the opening either by machine or hand.
• Make the syrup by boiling 3 cups of vegan sugar in 2 cups water in a 2 liter deep saucepan. Add split cardamom pods.
  Keep it on low fire on one burner. Leave a heavy ladle for dunking fried Jeleabi in syrup.
• Heat oil in a frying pan on an adjoining burner on a medium flame. When the oil is hot make Jeleabi one at a time directly over the oil. Make 3-4 pieces per batch.
• Fry  depending on whether you want your Jeleabi crispy or soggy. Remove them from the frying pan with a skewer or a ladle and dunk them in the syrup one at a time. The Jeleabi tend to float. Do not let them. With the heavy syrup ladle hold it down. In 30 seconds, they will be well soaked and ready for draining and laying out on serving tray.
• Half fill your piping bag. Or put 1/2 cup batter in your piping cotton (stitched up as described earlier) and gather it from four corners and hold it like a piping bag.
• Pipe over the hot oil, an inch above the surface of the oil, (Initially its very difficult to do,this recipe prepared by my Grandma all the credits goes to her only) with a steady hand, a quick 2 rings of spiraling circle closely adjoining each other (as you pipe it will try to move away); continue piping small circles in one continuous thread over the ridge formed by the spiral and finish when the small circles cover the entire ridge; break off by stopping the piping.
• Move the Jeleabi away and pipe 2-3 more.
• You can practice over your batter itself before trying on the hot oil.
• Before Serving spread sugar on the Jeleabi.