Delhiwale: Jalebi walkathon

Tell all the truth but tell it slant. These are Emily Dickinson’s words. The poet from Amherst must have been a devotee of sweet delicious jalebi, which too is anything but straight.
Here’s a citywide tour of the twisty dessert, starting from a classic landmark and ending at a rather lesser-known destination.
What Humayun’s Tomb is to Mughal monuments, Old Famous Jalebi Wala is to jalebis. The Chandni Chowk establishment (since 1884; founder: Nemchand Jain; “we have no other branch in Delhi & NCR”) stands at the turning to Dariba Kalan. Start the experience by watching the cook in action (he could be any of these: Bachha Ram, Saurabh, Arun, Vikesh).
Ensconced at his high-temperature alcove, the cook squeezes out the maida batter through a “nathna,” a knitted cotton bundle, into a karahi full of “shudh desi ghee”, his hands moving anti-clockwise. The white concentric circles of jalebi, swelled by the hot bubbling ghee, gradually change their complexion to pale yellow, then to golden brown. The cook expertly turns around the twisted shapes so that both sides catch the heat equally. A little more sizzling before he draws out the jalebis from his ladle, and transfers them into an adjacent container filled with sugar chashni. The jalebis struggle to stay afloat, and finally sink on being pushed down by fresher jalebis added from above. A minute later, the cook starts to take them out one by one, delicately tilting the ladle so that the extra syrup drips down.
Boasting of great reputation, these thick juicy jalebis though don’t travel very well. If planning to take these for home or office parties, a notice in the shop thoughtfully tells the buyer to “please take away cold jalebis (as) warm jalebis become soggy.”).
Other places, other jalebis. The tasty super-thin ones at Kalkaji’s Mehak Food have their lace pattern as refined and precise as dentelle architecture. Sardar Jalebi in Gurugram’s Sadar Bazar too has its jalebis crisp, slim and delicious—they are prepared in a rare old-fashioned bhatti.
Here, one would be negligent for not mentioning certain sweetshops in Old Delhi’s Matia Mahal Bazar that try to catch eyeballs by dishing out… black jalebis! These don’t taste like jalebis at all, instead evoking the flavour of gulab jamun. They are actually made of khoya.
Last but certainly not least, if you wish to visit Delhi’s most picturesque jalebi destination, then the only option is to head to Aggarwal Sweets in Mehrauli, near the bus stand. It directly faces the centuries-old hilltop tomb of some long-forgotten Adam Khan. The monument looks stunning from this vantage point, and the piping hot jalebi is tasty in a most conventional way, making it a true comfort meetha.