We have all had jalebis, those yellow-orange crispy sweet swirls of joy. But this time, at the Sattvik Food Festival, I came across something very different – Pineapple and Apple Jalebis.

First I thought maybe they are flavored as pineapple flavored jalebi and apple flavored jalebi. Maybe, they are dipped in a flavored chashni. Maybe some pulp is added to the batter. But I was wrong in all my guesses.

Actually, thin slices of pineapple and apple are taken. They are dipped in rice flour slurry and deep fried in ghee. Then they are sipped in thick sugar syrup. Inside the fruit slice becomes quite tender. The fruit also brings with it its own mellow sweetness, along with the sweetness of the sugar syrup. Since rice flour slurry is used as a batter, it does not hold in a lot of ghee inside, and it also becomes quite crisp.

This was a great new thing I had discovered. With fresh apples and pineapples abundantly available in this season, this is a great make-at-home snack. In fact, it doesn’t need anything to be kept through the night for fermentation. It is a quick and easy recipe. The stall volunteers told me that this is quite a traditional recipe in many parts of north and eastern India, and well, I had unfortunately, never heard of it. But now that I have discovered it, it is a joy to have it!