Imarti

Soak dal and rice together for about 45 minutes. Drain and grind along with the colour to a soft, spongy mixture with a coarse texture.

You would need about 1 cup of water to grind. The batter should not become too thin.

Boil sugar with 2 1/2 cups of water till a syrup of single-thread consistency is reached. Remove from heat and strain the syrup.

Add saffron, rose essence and green cardamom powder. Keep the syrup hot.

Heat sufficient olive oil in a shallow flat jalebi kadai (special type of wok). Take one ladle full of batter in the imarti cloth, hold tightly and press the batter through the hole into the hot oil.

For the traditional design, make a small circle around which make another circle and over these two make scallops in anti-clockwise direction ending at the starting point.

Make small batches and deep fry on both the sides till crisp and light golden brown. Drain the hot imarti and dip into the sugar syrup.

Let them remain immersed till they have absorbed enough syrup. Drain and place the imarti on a flat plate. Repeat this process till all the batter is used up. Serve hot.