• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Recipe Index
  • Food Photography
  • Subscribe

MySpicyKitchen

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Index
  • Food Photography
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Desserts

    Published: Apr 28, 2014 · Modified: Oct 1, 2020 by Usha Rao

    Jalebi from Uttar Pradesh

    Uttar Pradesh (UP), is a state located in northern India. Lucknow is the capital and, Kanpur is the commercial capital and the largest city of Uttar Pradesh. On 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved from the mountainous Himalayan region of Uttar Pradesh. It is the fourth largest Indian state by area and is the most populous state in the country. Hindi is the official and most widely spoken language in its 75 districts.

     

    Uttar Pradesh was home to powerful empires of ancient and medieval India. The two major rivers of the state, the Ganga and Yamuna, join at Allahabad and then flow as the Ganga further east. The state has several historical, natural, and religious tourist destinations, such as the Taj Mahal, Varanasi, Piprahwa, Kaushambi, Kanpur, Ballia, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Lucknow, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Allahabad, Budaun, Meerut and Mathura. Its also the area of some of the oldest existing cities of Budaun and Varanasi.

    A typical day-to-day traditional vegetarian meal of Uttar Pradesh, like any other North Indian thali, consists of roti (flatbread), chawal, dal, sabji, raita and papad. Many people still drink the traditional drink chaach with meals. On festive occasions, usually 'tava' (flat pan for roti) is considered inauspicious, and instead fried foods are consumed. A typical festive thali consists of Puri, Kachauri, sabji, pulav, papad, raita, salad and desserts (such as sewai or kheer). Awadhi cuisine is world famous for dishes such as kebab, biryani, keema and nihari. People make distinctive sweetmeats from milk products, including khurchan, peda, gulabjamun, petha, makkhan malai, and chamcham. The chaat in Lucknow and Banarasi Paan is known across India for its flavour and ingredients.

    Awadhi cuisine is from the city of Lucknow and the cooking patterns of the city are similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East, and Northern India as well. The cuisine consists of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Awadh has been greatly influenced by Mughal cooking techniques, and the cuisine of Lucknow bears similarities to those of Persia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad; and the city is known for Nawabi foods. The bawarchis and rakabdars of Awadh gave birth to the dum style of cooking or the art of cooking over a slow fire, which has become synonymous with Lucknow today. Their spread consisted of elaborate dishes like kebabs, kormas, biryani, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis, and warqi parathas. The richness of Awadh cuisine lies not only in the variety of cuisine but also in the ingredients used like mutton, paneer, and rich spices including cardamom and saffron.

    Mughlai cuisine is a style of cooking developed in the Indian subcontinent by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking styles used in North India, especially Uttar Pradesh. The cuisine is strongly influenced by the Persian cuisine of Iran, and has in turn strongly similarities to the regional cuisines of Kashmir and the Punjab region. The tastes of Mughlai cuisine vary from extremely mild to spicy, and is often associated with a distinctive aroma and the taste of ground and whole spices. (Source: Wiki)

    Plate of jalebi

    I made few recipes for this state but could not decide what to post. I initially made kaliya but the recipe I followed said it is from North India and was not sure if it is an Uttar Pradesh recipe. Then I made jalebi but this can be used for any state; Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan. So I thought of making something with paneer. Since pakora are a common in UP and paneer curries are very common in UP cuisine. I thought of paneer pokara and when I started making it, I changed the plan and made a platter of pakoras. Husband thought the pakoras were good but I usually make them lot better and were not up to the par. I was back to square one, not happy with any of the dishes I made for the states.

    Horizontal view of plate of jalebi.

    As I mentioned in my older posts, I was traveling and just got back this evening. Kalia was pretty good but did not have time to write the recipe. Although I followed the recipe as given, my instructions are little longer. I followed the jalebi recipe as given and did not make any changes to it. Hence decided to post the jalebi for the state. I do not know if it authentic to the state but have no choice. Here is a virtual treat UP food.

    Collage of food from Uttar Pradesh.

    When I made the kalia, Mr. U wanted vegetable bagara (rice) & I got a little adventures and made tehri. It is a preparation from UP and waned to make it a UP dinner. I was skeptical of the recipe I followed and was glad I made small portion. We did not like it at all. I won't be sharing the tehri recipe, but will share the kalia recipe later. We loved kalia although my gravy was thicker than it was suppose to be. Since I followed the Jalebi recipe as given, I decided to post it for this state.

    Uttar Pradesh Food.

    I initially picked jalebis for Chhattisgarh as it is a popular sweet in every household. The first time I made the jalebis, I used yeast. I think my batter was too thick and no matter how hard I squeezed, it would not pass through the pastry bag. For the second try, I followed an instant jalebi recipe and used the squeeze bottle. This time jalebis turned out good but my squeeze bottle hole was so narrow that I had very think circles of jalebi. Since that recipe was good, the third time I made them mainly for the sake of pictures, I wanted to try it from scratch, ferment it and make it the authentic way and not an instant version. In case this failed, I always had the instant recipe as a backup. This time I made a few jalebis using a pasty bag and a round nozzle. Jalebis came out good but I found it difficult squeezing the batter from the pastry bag. For the rest of the batter, I used a squeeze bottle with a wider hole. This time the jalebis were not as thin as the second time (the instant version) but I felt I could have used a squeeze bottle with a wider opening. Since I followed the recipe as given and do not have time to write the recipe again, for now I am just going to link back to the original recipe. The jalebis from the below pictures were squeezed using a pastry bag.

    Uttar Pradesh Food, Blogging Marathon,

    Source: Rak's Kitchen

    Related Recipes

    • Goat Kalia, North Indian Goat Curry
    • Kakarakaya Kura ~ Bitter Gourd Fry
    • Recap of Indian Food Odyssey
    • Ratlami Sev ~ Spicy Sev Deep Fried Snack
    • Spinach Orange Soup

    Signup to the newsletter to receive latest updates from MySpicyKitchen.

    More Desserts

    • Hemp seed balls in a plate.
      Hemp Seed Energy Balls, Gluten Free
    • Stacks of Pieces of dark chocolate bark.
      Dark Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Bark
    • Collage of gluten free desserts.
      17 Delicious Gluten Free Desserts
    • Two jars filled with layers of pistachio pudding and chopped strawberries on a wooden board.
      Strawberry Pistachio Pudding Recipe

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. Suma Gandlur says

      July 31, 2014 at 10:13 pm

      Love those jalebis and that lacy looking plate in which it is served.

      Reply
    2. Chef Mireille says

      June 11, 2014 at 1:31 am

      although the jalebis looks so perfect, all the other platters are looking so tempting - that pakora platter looks mouth watering

      Reply
    3. PJ says

      May 28, 2014 at 9:25 pm

      You made so many dishes fort his state! Hat's off to your enthu and efforts Usha! And the jalebis have come out perfectly!

      Reply
    4. Manjula Bharath says

      May 28, 2014 at 1:42 am

      omg such perfectly shaped jalebis just cudn't take my eyes off them 🙂 they are badly tempting me dear 🙂 just pass me some soon .. droolworthy 🙂

      Reply
    5. themadscientistskitchen says

      May 11, 2014 at 12:54 pm

      Must admire your commitment and your persistence I would not have had your patience to try so many times. They look delicious and yum.

      Reply
    6. Jayanthi says

      May 08, 2014 at 9:19 am

      looks stunning. absolutely love that doily patterned plate.. beautiful. so many attempts. really appreciate your efforts.

      Reply
    7. nalini says

      May 06, 2014 at 9:40 pm

      Perfect spirals Usha,very well made..nice clicks as always..

      Reply
    8. Pavani says

      May 04, 2014 at 12:04 am

      Jalebis are perfectly made Usha. Lovely clicks.

      Reply
    9. harini says

      May 03, 2014 at 10:37 pm

      Stunning and tempting pictures! Perfect spirals Usha!

      Reply
    10. Srivalli says

      May 01, 2014 at 9:59 am

      Usha, I wish you had more time to write this post, it's so amazing..loved all your pictures and dishes you made for this state! The Jalebirs are so perfectly shaped..very interesting..

      Reply
    11. Sowmya says

      April 30, 2014 at 2:15 am

      so many tries!! wow appreciate your effort and it has paid off nicely with such beautiful jalebi!!

      Reply
    12. Priya says

      April 29, 2014 at 6:15 am

      Fantastic jalebis there, you have piped them very much prefectly which is quite hard to get na, you have made so many dishes Usha, love ur efforts.

      Reply
    13. Vaishali Sabnani says

      April 29, 2014 at 6:09 am

      Usha the jalebis are perfectly mae..love those perfect spirals..truly fantastic..true this recipe goes for many states..but thats okay ..no hard rules..rt?

      Reply
    14. pumpkinfarmfood says

      April 28, 2014 at 11:45 pm

      perfectly made in the end..these are tempting

      Reply
    15. Varada says

      April 28, 2014 at 11:41 pm

      A lot of trials with a lot of dishes. You have put in so much effort! The jalebis look perfectly done.

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I am Usha! Welcome to my space. I am the content creator and photographer here. I love cooking and all the recipes on the site are tried and tested in my kitchen.

    More about me →


    Holiday Recipes

    • Fresh cranberry Christmas cake is a tangy & sweet cake
      Fresh Cranberry Christmas Cake
    • Loaf of non alcoholic low calorie classic fruit cake
      Low Calorie, Non Alcoholic Fruit Cake
    • plate of masi samoa.
      Masi Samoa, Coconut Shortbread Cookies
    • Norwegian Rice Porridge, Norwegian Food, Norwegian Cuisine, Rice Porridge, Rice Pudding, Norwegian Rice Pudding, Food of the World,
      Norwegian Rice Porridge for Food of the World
    • Collard Greens, Pepperoni, Food & Wine, Cooking from Cookbook Challenge, CCChallenge, Side Dish, Thanksgiving Recipes,
      Sauteed Collard Greens with Pepperoni
    • Thanksgiving Side Dishes, Side Dish, Swiss Chard, Piccata, Piccata Swiss Chard, Cooking form cookbook Challenge, CCChallenge, Food & Wine,
      Piccata Swiss Chard

    Popular

    • Sq image of a platter of veg canapes.
      Bread Canapes Recipe
    • Shrimp noodle soup in a bowl
      Easy Shrimp Noodle Soup Chinese Style
    • Top down view of chicken clear soup.
      Chicken Clear Soup Recipe, Indian Style
    • Omani Food, Omani Cuisine, Roasted Meat, Blogging Marathon, Around the world in 30 days with ABC cooking,
      Omani Shuwa ~ Slow Cooked Lamb

    Finger Food

    • Broiled shrimp.
      Party Shrimp Recipe
    • Tortilla cheese chips, Tortilla cheese crisps, Tucson Cheese Crisps, Blogging Marathon, Tortilla dish,
      Arizona Cheese Crisps
    • Plate of bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers
      3 Ingredient Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
    • A platter of Fiesta pinwheels and a bowl of salsa
      Fiesta Pinwheels, Yummy Party Food

    Curry Recipes

    • A bowl of lima beans curry.
      Lima Beans Curry, Video Recipe
    • Bowl of ulligadda ukkera.
      Onion Egg Curry ~ Ulligadda Ukkera
    • A bowl of chikkudukaya kura or Indian broad beans in a platter along with a bowl of rice.
      Chikkudukaya Kura - Indian Broad Beans Fry
    • Gutti vankaya masala is a flavorful eggplant curry stuffed with peanut sesame spice mix.
      Gutti Vankaya Masala - Stuffed Baby Eggplant Curry

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Subscribe

    Contact

    • Know Me

    Copyright © 2025 MySpicyKitchen