Jangri

Ingredients

The following are the ingredients needed to prepare Jangri,

• Urad dal - 1 ½ cup
• Rice flour - ½ tablespoon
• Sugar - ½ cup
• Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon
• Food color - orange color 3-4 drops
• Saffron - a few strands
• Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon
• Ghee for frying (optional)
• Water as required for batter and sugar syrup
• Salt a pinch
• Oil for frying.

Preparation Steps

For preparing the batter: 

1. Soak urad dal in water for about two hours and grind it into a thick batter that has a consistency similar to that of a Vada batter.
2. To this batter add one or two teaspoon rice flour, a pinch of salt and two drops of food color. Mix well. 
3. Add water if required to maintain the original consistency.

For preparing sugar syrup: 

1. Heat a saucepan to prepare sugar syrup by adding sugar and water just enough to immerse it.
2. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice and two drops of orange food color. Mix them. 
3. Add cardamom powder and saffron strands and stir them.
4. Both food color and saffron give color to the syrup hence make sure to balance both or eliminate any one of the two as per preference.
5. Switch off the flame right before it reaches the complete one-string consistency. The syrup should be sticky. Keep this aside and let it be warm.

For frying: 

1. Heat a broad and heavy-bottomed pan and add oil a little more than what is required for shallow fry. Maintain the flame at low. Ghee can also be used for frying Jangri.
2. Make sure the batter is in the right consistency before preparing Jangris.
3. Take the Jangri cloth or alternatively a zip lock cover with a small hole or a piping bag and fill it with the prepared batter.
4. The shape of the Jangri is a highlight of the sweet. Practice it first on a plate before trying it in the pan straight away. 
5. Squeeze the batter into Jangri/flower shape by drawing two big circles where the line is parallel to each other and small swirls on top of it, joining both the lines.
6. Once you are ready with the shapes start trying it straight into the hot oil.
7. Do not overcrowd the pan and flip it when one side has fried. 
8. When it has turned crispy and fried well transfer it to a plate or tissue cloth to remove excess oil. 
9. Drop these fried discs into the prepared sugar syrup and let it soak for a couple of minutes.
10. If preferred it can soak for a long time until it absorbs the sugar syrup well and it is ready to eat.
11. If stored in an airtight container Jangri can stay fresh for a week.