Jalebi: A Dessert So Good, It Traveled the World
From Persian courts to Diwali feasts, the crunchy orange coil has survived centuries of culinary influences. What gives it such staying power?
Nearly 30 years before Tesher’s “Jalebi Baby” rocked our airways (“baby, let me see it, jalebi baby”), Apache Indian aka Steven Kapur was singing about wanting “a girl sweet like jalebi” in “Arranged Marriage” (1993).
There’s nothing quite as satisfying as a jalebi — which always seems to mean much more than the sweet. The fried swirls, lacquered with sugar syrup, are confoundingly light, yet with just one bite, a gush of intense sweetness perfumes your mouth and the syrup slides down your fingers.
But before you can say the 2020s mark a mainstream moment for jalebis, they have been ubiquitous for centuries. You can find the orange-coiled treat far and wide: from the streets of India, Trinidad and Tobago, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Jamaica to the markets of Burma, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Philippines. People serve them to celebrate weddings, to mark Eid and Diwali, to celebrate Ramlila, to mourners at funerals, and all the occasions in between. The history of the jalebi, in fact, spans continents, and is as delicious as it is mystifying.