Jangri Recipe

Jangri, Jhangri - a popular South Indian sweet recipe. Jangri is made from urad dal which is ground into a smooth batter. The batter is piped in circles in hot oil and fried till crispy which is soaked in sugar syrup to create this popular Indian sweet. This sweet is similar to jalebi and taste like honey comb.

Jangri

Jangri is one of the most popular and most loved sweet all over South India. I have tried it many times including the most popular jangri making round in my masterchef journey. But the pictures added in this blog post were taken during my first attempt of making jangri.

I am planning to remake and edit the process of making jangri with much more precision. It will happen sometime soon but still I have edited this post and added most of tips and techniques which I have learned over the years in this blog post which will be helpful for many. Also this is a must make sweet for this Diwali sweet platter.

About Jangri

Jangri is one of the popular sweet from South India. It is known for its pretty spiral or flower like look and honey comb like sweetness. The sweet is made with urad dal which is deep fried and soaked in sugar syrup.

Urad dal is soaked and ground into a thick batter, just like medu vada batter. The batter is taken in a bowl and aerated using hand or spoon to lighten the batter. Food colour and salt is added. The batter is taken in a jangri making cloth or ziploc cover and piped like flower over hot oil. Fried jangri is soaked in syrup and served.

There are few tips and techniques in making jangri. I have tried to cover most of it in this blog post. Make sure you read the tips section and Faq to get answer to most of your questions.

Watch Jangri Recipe Video

Jangri Ingredients

Urad dal - use whole urad dal which is of good quality for making jangri. the quality of the urad dal is important to get the proper texture in the batter when grinding.

Food Colour - jangri is traditionally red, orange or yellow in colour. So you can choose any colour of your choice. even though food colour doesn't affect the taste of the jangri but it is important for presentation.

Sugar - sugar is used in making sugar syrup which is the only way you can sweeten this honeycomb like dessert.

Flavourings - cardamom powder, saffron, rose extract are common flavouring used in jangri.

Optional - chopped nuts, saffron strands is used as garnish.

How to Pipe Jangri Easily

Jangri is known for its look. It has a beautiful flower like pattern which is iconic. jangri batter is taken in a special jangri making cloth and piped straight over hot oil. Even though the pattern is achieved by practice, still it is easy to get a pretty decent looking jangri through few attempts.

First you need a piping equipment. There are few options you can choose from.

Jangri cloth - jalebi making cloth or jangri cloth is a jalebi maker tool made of 100%cotton and hand stitched this is common size used by halwai or chefs in india. This cloth comes with a round metal like hole stiched in the cloth.

Piping Bag - you can use reusable piping bag with piping nozzle. Easy & approachable.

Ziploc cover - I find the only drawback is piping over hot oil can be challenging with plastic covers.

Jangri Recipe (3 Easy Steps)

Jangri Batter

Soak urad dal for 2 hours, strain and take it in a blender, add water very little at a time and make it into a thick paste. Take it in a bowl. If the batter is thick, add some rice flour to it. Add salt and food colour and mix well.

Sugar Syrup

Now take sugar and water in a sauce pan, and bring it to a boil, cook till it gets sticky, add cardamom and lemon juice and food colour and mix well.

Frying Jangri

Take a piping bag and cut a small hole in the tip. Fill with the batter. Now heat oil for deep frying in a flat bottom pan and make jangri shape. Now fry till crispy on both sides.

Soak in Sugar Syrup

Once jangri's are fried. Strain it and add in sugar syrup. Let it soak for 1-2 minute on each side. Strain and Serve.

How to Make Jangri at Home (Stepwise Pictures)

Soaking Urad dal

1)wash and soak whole urad dal for 1 to 1.5 hours. Once soaked, Strain it using a sieve and let it sit for 5 minutes for all the water to drain.

Grinding Urad dal

2)Take the soaked and drained urad dal in a blender. Traditionally jangri batter is ground in a wet grinder. Since I am making a small batch I used a regular blender to grind the batter. When grinding the urad dal, don't use too much water. Just add a tsp of water at a time and grind.

3)Make sure you don't add too much water when grinding the batter. Sprinkle little water a time. If your batter gets runny, check notes section how to rectify the batter.

Preparing Jangri Batter

5)Take ground jhangri batter in a bowl. The batter has to be thick. Now use your hand or a wooden spoon to mix the batter in one direction to aerate the batter. This lightens the batter and makes it fluffy which makes the jhangri crispy and juicy in texture.

6)Repeat the whipping process for at least 10 minutes to lighten and aerate the batter.

7)To check the consistency of the batter, drop a spoonful of the batter in water. it has to float. This is the correct consistency.

8)Now to the batter. add in food colour, salt.

7)Mix the batter really well. the batter has to be thick. This is the consistency you are looking for.

Making Sugar Syrup

9)Take sugar in a kadai. Use a wide pan to make the sugar syrup.

10)Add in water to the sugar. Mix well and heat.

11)I added some food colour to the sugar syrup. Bring sugar and water to a full boil. Cook till the consistency of sugar syrup gets one string consistency. It will take around 5 to 6 minutes of cooking.

12)When you take some syrup between your fingers and stretch. it should form a string like texture.

13)Now the syrup is ready. You have to keep the syrup is warm.

14)Add in cardamom powder and mix well. You can add any flavourings as you prefer.

14)Add in lemon juice to the syrup. Lemon juice will prevent the syrup getting crystallised.

Filling Piping Bag

15) Take a ziploc bag and make a hole in the centre or in the side. Instead of using ziploc cover you can use a cloth piping bag which is traditional. You can use a piping bag for making jhangri. I found it easy if you make hole in the corner of the ziploc bag.

16)Gather the cover and bring the jangri batter in one side of the cover.

Piping Jangri

17) Before you pipe jangri over hot oil. Practice few times on a plate which makes easier to pipe directly over hot oil.

18) This is how you make jangri. First you draw one or two circles(rounds) ---> then makes small circles over the two rounds. This is much easy way.

19)The oil has to be medium hot when frying jangri, fry jangri for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Once first side is cooked, flip over and fry on other side too.

20)You have to fry jangri till crispy. Make sure the bubbles on the oil subsides which ensures that the jangri is fried till crispy.

Soaking in Sugar Syrup

21) Drop jangri in the sugar syrup. Soak the jangri in sugar syrup for 1 minute on each side.

22)Flip over and let them soak.

23)Remove the soaked jangri on a serving plate and serve.

Expert Tips

About Urad Dal

Use good quality whole urad dal. The batter texture totally depends on the quality of the dal used.

Don't soak urad dal more than 2 hours. Over soaking will make the urad dal absorb more water and also it can turn sour and fermented which will affect the taste of the jangri.

Batter Consistency

Getting the batter consistency correct is important. You have to grind the urad dal with very little water. Make sure the texture of the batter is similar to medu vada batter. Don't use too much water when grinding the batter. Add just a tsp of water.

Once batter is ground, take it in a bowl and mix it well using your hands to aerate the batter. Do the float test to check the batter consistency.

If you added too much water when grinding the batter, you can sprinkle some rice flour or cornstarch and mix the batter.

Sugar Syrup Consistency

Cooking the sugar syrup till one string consistency is important. When you take some syrup between your fingers and stretch. it should form a string like texture.

Frying Jangri

When frying jangri, make sure the oil is not that too hot. Make sure the oil is medium heat. Take your time and fry the jangri is crispy which makes it so delicious and honeycomb like.

FAQ & Troubleshooting

Is Jalebi and Jangiri same?

Even though the process of making jangri and jalebi is similar there are few difference. Jangri is made with urad dal while jalebi is made with plain flour. Jalebi has more tangy taste to it while jangri taste honeycomb like sweetness.

What is Jangiri made of?

Urad dal is soaked and ground into a thick batter, just like medu vada batter. The batter is taken in a bowl and aerated using hand or spoon to lighten the batter. Food colour and salt is added. The batter is taken in a jangri making cloth or ziploc cover and piped like flower over hot oil. Fried jangri is soaked in syrup and served.

Why is my jangri hard?

This can happen if you don't aerate the urad dal batter enough. Also over frying can make jangri hard.

Why I am not able to pipe jangri?

Batter is too loose, is the main cause for this issue. At that point you can add some rice flour or cornstarch to the batter to remove the excess moisture. You can also transfer the batter to a clean cloth and hang it for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture.

Why my jangri disintegrated in oil when frying?

Batter is too loose, oil is not hot enough are the main reason for this issue.

Why my jangri is soggy?

Under frying and over soaking in sugar syrup is the cause for this issue. Make sure you fry your jangri on medium hot oil till crispy. Soak the fried jangri in syrup for just 1 to 2 minutes.

More Diwali Sweet Recipes to Try

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If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.

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