Deep frying ingredients is one of India’s favorite ways of preparing dishes. The oil seeps into the batter, giving it a deep color and a crackling crispiness. Enjoyed hot, these dishes coat the tongue with flavor seeped in oil and drive home the indulgence with which they’ve been made. So eating desserts that have been prepared through the method is a unique and elevated experience. Deep frying a dessert enhances its flavor and highlights the different flavor notes in it. Then dipping that piping hot dessert in a sugar syrup absorbs it into every pore of the dessert, all of which oozes out on the tongue when bitten into. So the next time you’re going on a dessert spree, here are India’s best deep fried desserts to try.
This golden brown dessert is soft and full of flavor. The base dough is fried in hot oil and then soaked in a sugar syrup, as it acquires a sweetness while also being soft and fluffy. The sugar syrup is infused with saffron, cardamom and often, rose water. When the piping hot dough is soaked into it, the gulab jamun pieces also become infused with these flavors. Whether you enjoy them at a fancy restaurant, or from a street stall, they’re soft, break apart easily in the mouth and make for a deeply enjoyable eating experience. There are also mini gulab jamuns one can try, where one pops the entire piece in the mouth in one go and then relishes the burst of flavor and texture that it offers.
Another popular Indian dessert, jalebi is made by piping batter into boiling oil. The oil seeps into it and it soon solidifies into the spherical shape. The saffron gives it a deep golden orange color and the oil makes it crisp to bite into. But despite that, it still melts in the mouth when bitten into. Jalebis are often eaten hot, with a chilled rabri on top. They’re one of the desserts that are delicious even when eaten after cooled down. There are many variations of jalebi like the imarti and the jaleba. But the essence remains the same — a crisp, sugar syrup soaked dessert that’s bright and attractive to look at and delicious when eaten.
Khaja is a type of sweet dish made by layers of dough laid on top of each other which is then deep fried and soaked in a sugar syrup. It can also have a filling of fruit inside, depending on which region of the country you’re eating the khaja in. These sweets are golden brown, crisp and slightly sticky to touch from the sugar syrup. They crumble in the mouth and lead to a rich eating experience. There are several variations of it for instance, in Bihar’s Rajgir, one will find puffy khajas, while in Andhra Pradesh’s coastal towns it's going to be dry from the outside but filled with sugar syrup inside. Slightly afar in Puri, it's dipped with sugar syrup that hardens on the outside.
Originating from Kerala, achappam are a type of deep fried cookie made with rice flour. They are also called rose cookies. ‘Achh’ means mold and ‘appam’ is any food made with flour. These Kerala cookies are believed to have Dutch influences—a variation of their rosette cookies— and are a popular snack among the locals during Christmas. It's made with a special rose shaped mould, into which goes the thin batter which is then deep fried until golden and crispy. It's also made in other regions of southeast Asia and has names like kuih loyang, acuan, bunga ros, goyang, dok jok and more.
Malpua is one of India’s oldest desserts, which even finds mention in the Rig Veda. These thin, flat desserts are made of flour, sugar and other basic ingredients which are deep fried in oil and then dipped in a sugar syrup. They can be soft or slightly crispy in texture and taste exceptional in both ways. The dish is popular all over India and there are several variations of the malpua depending on the region you’re eating it in. In Rajasthan, rabri is added to the batter of the malpua. In Odisha’s coastal towns, coconut is included in the batter and in Bengal, sweet potato is added. Bihar serves it with chicken or mutton curry and Bhubaneswar serves it with an aloo sabzi.