Sweets & Desserts
Jeri (Nepali Jalebi)
जेरी
Jeri is Nepal's take on jalebi — coils of naturally fermented batter piped into hot ghee, fried crisp, then plunged into syrup so they crackle on the outside and gush on the inside. In the Kathmandu Valley it is inseparable from swari, the flaky fried flatbread it is eaten with at dawn, a Newar breakfast ritual that draws queues outside old sweet shops in Ason and Indra Chowk. Festival mornings, especially during Dashain and Tihar, are unthinkable without a paper cone of warm jeri.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
At the stove
Method
Whisk the flours, yoghurt, turmeric and enough warm water together to make a smooth, lump-free batter about the thickness of pancake batter.
Cover and leave in a warm spot for 8 to 12 hours (overnight is easiest) until it smells faintly tangy and shows small bubbles on the surface — this natural fermentation is what gives jeri its sourdough-like edge.
Boil the sugar, water and cardamom for 6 to 8 minutes until the syrup is sticky and just short of one-thread consistency, then stir in the lemon juice and keep it warm.
Beat the baking powder into the fermented batter just before frying and adjust with a splash of water if it has thickened.
Pour the batter into a squeeze bottle, a piping bag, or the traditional cloth with a small hole knotted into one corner.
Heat the ghee to a moderate temperature and pipe the batter directly into it in tight overlapping spirals, working from the centre outward.
Fry for about a minute per side, turning once, until the coils are firm, golden and audibly crisp — do not let them brown deeply or they turn bitter.
Lift out, shake off the excess fat, and dunk into the warm syrup for 30 to 45 seconds only, so they soak but stay crunchy.
Drain on a rack and eat immediately, ideally with swari and a glass of hot chiya.
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