Imarti and Jalebi

Districts / Region

Originally from North India, Imarti and Jalebi have made their deep mark in Maharashtrian Cuisine. Aurangabad is known for Emarati, while Jalebi is famous in most of the Northern parts of Maharashtra.

Ingredients and Short Recipes

Vigna mungo or black gram flour is soaked in water for a few hours and stone-ground into a fine batter. The batter is poured into ghee, in the form of a circular geometric pattern to make Imarti. The preparation then is dipped in sugar syrup prepared with edible flavours camphor, cloves, cardamom and saffron. Thus the delicacy is prepared and served as a sweet dish. Jalebi has a relatively complicated process and different ingredients. Jalebi is a spiral-shaped traditional Indian sweet made with flour mixed with little chickpea flour and yoghurt (though adding yoghurt is not essential). The batter is fermented and then deep-fried and dipped in sugar syrup. Both the sweet dishes are loved in Maharashtra and available at any local sweet shops in the vicinity.

History

Emirati is believed to have reached Maharashtra from Eastern India in the medieval period, while Jalebi is a West Asian delicacy Indianized and adopted in Maharashtrian Culture in the medieval period. Both the delicacies have a history of hundreds of years in Maharashtra.

Cultural Significance

Emirati and Jalebi narrate the stories of cultural ties of Maharashtra in the past. These food items migrated to Maharashtra ages ago and have blended so well in Maharashtrian cuisine that they are prepared as festival food.