Imarti

Unlike the average human whom I have met in life,I knew right from childhood that Jalebi and Jahangiri were two different sweets. I used to like the crispness of Jalebi and the syrup sticking onto it, but not its sour filling and its dirty yellow colour. I used to like the colour and sweetness of Jahangiri but not its sogginess ( at least that was how the ones I have eaten always were). The fact that they had a reputation of being "boring"(they were served invariably in South Indian weddings on the left side of the leaf  and more often than not, these remained on the left side even after the eater has gotten up) didn't help too. In fact the South Indian way of pronouncing Jahangiri was Jaangri, which sounded really local. What I didn't know was that there was a North Indian version of Jahangiri, called Imarti which used the same ingredients, but was fried crisper and didn't look as heavy as Jahangiri. This was introduced to me by Rumi Foods in our FC. Now Imarti was the right combo. It was crisp, orange in colour, sweet and had a coating of the sugar syrup on it. And it is one of the rare Indian sweets that can be served as dessert ( will write more about the eligibility criteria for desserts in another post). Not as a dessert as is, but definitely in combination with Rabdi.

I googled for the recipe and found multiple sources which were more or less the same. But I was really scared if I could execute this mega-plan. But having successfully done it in the first go, I can confidently say that it isn't as complicated as it sounds. As I have already mentioned in my earlier blogs, its best not to mess around much with sweet recipes. Just follow them akkakka (copy-paste).

The recipe was made easier by mom. She spared me some Urad batter while grinding for Idli batter and that reduced my effort greatly.

Ingredients:

1. Whole Urad Dal - 1cup
2. Rice flour - 2 tbsp.
3. Sugar - 1 cup
4. Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp.
5. Saffron colour ( Kesar powder) - 1/4 tsp
6. Saffron petals ( optional) - around 10-15
7. Oil - 5-6 tbsp. ( for frying)
8. Ghee - 1 tbsp.

Procedure:

1. First we need to make the syrup for soaking the fried Imartis. To one cup of water, add one cup of sugar, saffron petals, a pinch of saffron colour and cardamom powder and boil for 10-15 minutes or until the syrup becomes sticky. Experts call it one string consistency, but in layman terms, if you take a drop of the syrup between 2 fingers, it should stick. Intuitively, it should not be so thin that the Imarti soaks it up immediately and tears apart ( and become jaaangi!) and also not so thick that even after soaking for quite some time, the Imarti doesn't soak it at all. The syrup should be at room temperature or slightly warm, definitely not to be used as soon as it is prepared.
2. The Urad must be soaked for around 3-4 hours and ground in the grinder for around half an hour. (like it is done for Idli batter). In fact I borrowed around 2 cups of ground Urad batter from mom while she was making Idli batter.
3. To make the Imarti batter, mix 2 tbsp. of rice flour with 2 cups of ground Urad batter and a pinch of saffron colour (optional; you really don't need to add this; i just added it out of enthusiasm) and whisk well to form a lump-free batter with a cake dough like consistency. If its like cookie dough consistency, we can add very little water. It will be a little slimy and will not pour easily like idli batter.
4. Take a milk cover and wash it well. We need to make a small hole at the bottom of this. Heat a match stick or a toothpick and pierce it through the cover to make a hole of the size of this alphabet: o. Maybe a litttttle bigger. The idea of using a hot stick is that the sides of the hole get sealed and will not expand due to pressure. Fill the cover with the Imarti batter.
5. In a flat-bottomed kadai ( it is important that the kadai is flat bottomed), heat oil and ghee. The height of the oil/ghee in the kadai must be around 2 cm. The oil should not become too hot. Do not use a copper bottom kadai as it heats up very fast. Nonstick pans are best to use.
6. When the oil is slightly warm, start pressing the cover and pour in the batter in the shape of Imarti ( a circle in between and then spiral rings around the circumference).Its actually quite easy to make the shape, considering I (with my abysmally low art quotient) could do it decently. It is of utmost important that the Imartis are laid when the oil is not hot. Otherwise they may break or burn. Around 4-5 Imartis can be poured in a single batch.
7. Slowly increase the heat (not very high) and fry the Imartis till they turn crisp. You can feel this when u touch the ladle against the Imartis. They will be flexible initially, but will soon turn more crisp/solid. Turn over and fry till it turns slightly golden. Do not fry for too long a time ( it will turn brown and get burnt) and for too less a time ( It might not be crisp or the raw Urad taste might remain).
8. Now remove from the oil and soak in the syrup for 2-3 minutes. For the next batch of Imarti frying, you might want to switch off the stove for a few minutes, pour in the Imartis and then light it again. This will prevent the Imartis from getting burnt.
9. Remove the Imartis  from the syrup after 2-3 minutes and serve as is or with Rabdi poured over it.

The syrup

The batter

Imartis getting fried

Second batch

Ready to eat