Jhangri/Jangri/Imriti

I like jangris especially the Krishna sweets one. I used to gobble it one after another on festive days. The ghee flavor just makes me go gaga. But I have also had those mini jangris that has the rose essence flavors which I liked. So here is a humble try.
If you have sweet tooth I m sure this one will satiate your cravings. Actually this recipe has been in my draft for a long time as I wanted to take step wise pictures. But today I couldn’t hold anymore. I shall soon post the stepwise pictures. Its quite a big post with lots of tips and tricks. But I m sure with little patience and concentration you can sure make it. If i can make it anyone can make it. Do give it a try.

Ingredients:

Whole Urad dal/Muzhu vellai ulunthu-1/2 cup

Rice flour-1/2 tsp

Saffron colour-1 pinch

Salt-1 pinch

Ghee/Oil- For frying

Zip lock cover/a clean thick plastic cover/piping bag-1

For Sugar Syrup:

Sugar-1/2 cup

Orange food colour-1 pinch

Lemon juice- ¼ tsp

Water- just to immerse sugar

How it Happened:

1. Wash twice and soak the urad dal in water for 3 hours. Then drain the water completely, and add it to a blender jar. Grind it to a smooth fluffy paste by adding/sprinkling very little water (around 3-4 tbsp).

2. Add the rice flour, salt and food color into the batter and mix well and set aside.

3. Heat sugar with water just to immerse it and heat it for 5 minutes. When the sugar starts to give a one string consistency add in the lemon juice and orange food color mix once and switch off the flame.

4. Now take the zip lock cover and make a hole in the center of the bottom part using a heated thin nail. Fill half the cover with batter and tie a rubber band/kitchen twine at the top to keep the batter from coming out.

5. Now take a flat bottomed pan with 2 inches of ghee/oil. Place it in a flame that is medium. When the oil starts forming small bubbles in the bottom simmer the flame and when the bubbles start moving upwards start piping in the jangris slowly into the oil. (See notes)

6. Do not crowd the ghee. Just pipe in 2 or 3 according to the size of your pan; Let them cook for a minute. They will puff up and become light. Now turn them to cook on the other side and let it cook until it crisps up. When you slightly tap them with the ladle, you can hear the sound of the crispy jangris.

7. Strain them from ghee and carefully transfer them to the sugar syrup using a stick and let them in the syrup for 2-3 minutes.

8. Drain the jangris from the syrup and transfer them to a plate let it rest for an hour.

9. Store it a dry air-tight container and serve it hot or  cold.

Notes:

* As you grind the urad dal batter will fluff up in the jar. The batter should be thick and smooth with very little water content. Do not wash the urad dal too much or else the batter will not fluff up.

* Rice flour is added to thicken up the batter and also it gives the slight crisp. But if your batter is thick enough you can skip it.

* Do not keep stirring the sugar syrup as they tend to crystallize. Lemon juice is added to avoid crystals. Also you can add rose essence/ Elaichi essence to the sugar syrup. I fried the jangris in ghee so there was enough flavor to it and also they both wouldn’t go well. So I didn’t add any essence but if you fry in oil you can add any flavors you want.

* You have to switc off the flame in the initial stages of one string consistency ( ilam kambi pahu patham). Otherwise they will start solidifying as they cool down a bit which is while you'll be dipping the jangris then.So the sugar syrup will not coat the jangris properly.

* If they solidify slightly heat them in simmer and then they will liquify.

*The recipe mentioned above can be filled in one go in a large IKEA zip lock bag. Just seal the open end as mentioned above. The recipe gives 15 medium sized jhangris.

* If you are a first timer, first practice on an oiled plastic sheet or a tray. First pipe in a medium circle then make small circles over the lines of the medium circle. When you get it right, start piping it directly into the oil.

* Do not make hole at the corners of the cover as they tend to get bigger as you pipe continuously. Also do not heat the nail to red hot as the hole gets large.

* I have a jhangri kadai/jhangri ennai chatty made of iron that Amma gave me for they are very useful in frying murukku and other deep fried goodies as they are flat and spacious and helps in even cooking. But you can use any regular flat bottomed pan that can hold up to 2 inches of oil.

* If you overcrowd the pan, the temperature of the oil will drop and the jangris will not get cooked evenly and will not crisp up.

*Use chopstick or a stick given for turning paniyarams or even the stick given for pushing the puttu from puttu kuzhal. I used the murukku kambi i.e., a long metal stick used in earlier days for draining out murukku. Again courtesy of AMMA!

* Let the jangri rest for an hour for it to soak up the sugar syrup. It stays well in the refrigerator for 5 days.

* You can reheat it in microwave for 30 seconds in medium power if you want to serve it hot.