Paneer Jalebi

 

Today I am going to make Chanar Jalebi or Paneer Jalebi. Chanar jalebi or paneer jalebi is authentic to the Bengali cuisine. Paneer adds an interesting flavor to the Jalebis.  It is my maa’s and my friend Piyali Bhattacharjee’s favorite sweet. I love to make it .This is a very simple recipe to make it but at the same time you need to be extra careful, otherwise you may spoil this delectable sweet.

Ingredients

Paneer (chana) – freshly prepared from 2 liters of milk.
Lemon juice from 2 lemon/ vinegar - 4 spoons (I used vinegar)
Khoya -1/2 cup (optional)
Maida 3tsp
Suji 2tsp
Baking powder1/2 tsp
Cardamom powder 4-5 crushed
Oil for frying
Sugar 3cup
Water 3 cup.
A few Saffron strands (optional)

 

Procedure

Prepare paneer freshly at home. Add a tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar in boiling milk. When the milk starts curdling, switch off the gas.

Line a sieve with a white cotton cloth. Pour the curdled milk into it. Wash the strained paneer under running water to remove the strains of vinegar.

Place the sieve with the paneer on a bowl and set it aside until the water has been filtered out. It may take 30 -45 minutes.

Take paneer and khoya in a flat bottomed vessel & mix well. Rub it continuously with your palm and knead it for quite some time till it becomes soft & smooth. Without any lump and does not stick to your hands.

Now add maida, suji, cardamom powder and baking powder and knead well to from soft and smooth dough. After that cover it with a moist cloth or cling film. Keep the bowl in room temperature for ½- 2 hrs.

Meanwhile prepare sugar syrup, in a wide pan take sugar, water, cardamom & saffron pods and bring it to boil. Let it boil in a low flames until the syrup becomes little sticky. Afterwards switch off the gas and set aside.

Now start shaping the jalebis. Divide the dough into equal sized round balls; now roll the ball with your palm into a long thick rope. coil the rope into one and half turn leaving a small gap in between, twist them into shapes as shown in the picture.

Heat oil in a pan and when it’s hot, put the flame on low, slowly drop the jalebis in oil and deep fry till they turn golden.

 Remove from oil and drop them in the sugar syrup. Let it soak in the syrup for 3-4 hrs.

Garnish with sliced pistas and serve.

Enjoy

Notes

Whenever you make any type of sweet always try to prepare the chana at home

Do not release the jalebi’s into hot oil

When you make jalebi and it breaks don’t panics take a little butter and join the broken parts together