Ever since we got hooked on to Sourdough bread Baking, I am left with a lot of discard. If you are a sourdough parent, I am sure you will relate to this. I would have never thought of making Sourdough Discard Jalebi if a friend on Instagram wouldn’t have pointed it to me. And once you make these irresistible them, there is no going back to the store brought ones or even making it with the pre-mixes. Sourdough Discard Jalebi’s are juicy, crispy, crunchy and simply irresistible. This is an instant version, and does not require any fermentation.

WHAT IS JALEBI?

Jalebi is a spiral shaped traditional Indian sweet made with flour basically mixed with little chickpea flour and yogurt/ curd. The batter is then left to ferment for few hours and then deep fried in ghee or oil and dipped in sugar syrup which is flavored with saffron and Cardamom.

Jalebi is not just a dessert, but in several parts of India it is consumed for breakfast as well. In Bihar, it is served with Poori and Aloo Subzi as breakfast. In Bhopal, jalebi along with Poha is consumed. Who can forget the incredible rabdi jalebi combo or jalebi with mattha (buttermilk). Fafda Jalebi has a different fan base too. Jalebi samosa or Jalebi kachori combination is simply heaven.

A NOTE ON MY SOURDOUGH STARTER:

I use a 100% hydration Starter. A 100% hydration starter has equal quantities of water and flour. I use a mixture of flour – whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. Both in equal quantities. I use Sher Durum atta for whole wheat and Robin Hood for all purpose flour. This is also what I use to feed my starter. Since my starter is very active as of now, my starter stays in the fridge and I feed it once a week.

WHAT IS SOURDOUGH DISCARD?

Sourdough discard is that portion of your starter that is removed and discarded before feeding what’s left in the jar. Even if it is called as ‘discard’ it doesn’t mean that you actually have to throw it away. Usually discard is very versatile and you can make many recipes from it. From crackers to pancakes, waffles, crepes, biscuits, chapatis and the list goes on.

SOME POINTS TO REMEMBER:

Consistency of the batter: The consistency of batter is very important. The batter should have a flowing consistency nor thin nor thick. I recommend adding a little water each time to achieve that consistency. The amount of water depends on how thick your batter is. The below mentioned amount is a reference guide and please use water according to your starter.
I used ghee to fry the Jalebi’s but you can fry them in Oil too. I recommend frying them in ghee for more authentic taste
Fry the Jalebi’s at a low heat.
My discard stays in the fridge and I use it directly to make jalebi’s.
Pipe only enough jalebis to cover the pan giving it enough space to cook. I used a small pan so I piped just one at a time.
The sugar syrup should have one string consistency. To check one string consistency- basically place a drop of syrup in between your thumb and index finger and then when you move fingers away from each other, it should form a single thread.
Keep the syrup warm while you make the jalebis.
Addition of lemon juice to the sugar syrup prevents the crystallization of sugar.

Looking for more Sourdough recipes? Make these Sourdough ladi Pav‘s aka Sourdough Dinner Rolls to pair with your misal, batata wada, bhurji and many more.

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