Uttar Pradesh
Imarti
- Duration: 30 minutes
- Serves: 2 to 4 people
Authenticity Slice
The batter for making the Imarti should not be too thin in consistency. Also, always use a flat- bottomed frying pan or a shallow kadhai to fry the Imartis in.
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Trivia Tadka
Imarti is a sweet dish that found prominence in Uttar Pradesh during the Mughal era. It is a thicker and richer variant of the good old jalebi. In UP, Imarti is frequently consumed as breakfast along with dahi.
Ingredients
- Black gram (urad dal) (1 cup)
- Rice (¼ cup)
- Sugar (2 cups)
- Saffron (kesar) (1 tsp)
- Saffron colour (kesari) (a pinch)
- Green cardamom (hari elaichi) powder (1 tsp)
- Ghee (for deep-frying)
- Rose essence (2 to 4 drops)
Method
- Soak the dal and rice together for about an hour or so. Then, drain and grind them to get a coarse mixture.
- Next, add in the saffron colour and mix well. Let this stand overnight.
- For the sugar syrup, boil the sugar along with 2 cups of water to get a single-thread consistency. Then, add in the saffron, rose essence and green cardamom powder. Keep the syrup hot.
- Now, in a kadhai, heat the ghee. Take a muslin cloth and puncture it in the middle. Now, scoop up a ladle-full of the batter and tightly press it through the cloth hole and into the hot oil.
- Design the Imarti’s shape according to your taste. Traditionally, Imarti is designed to be two small concentric circles over which are 2 more circles running in an anti-clockwise direction.
- Keep cooking the Imarti till it has become crisp and light golden brown in colour. Then, drain the hot Imarti and dip it into the sugar syrup. Let it stay immersed till it has absorbed the syrup well.
- Transfer the Imarti onto a clean plate.
- Repeat the process till all the batter has been used up.
- Serve hot with curd.
