Imarti

Imarti is an Indian sweet made by piping a black gram batter into a flower shape, frying it and soaking it in syrup. Small loops surround a central ring, so it looks like layers of linked petals. It is a specialty of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, and in South India it is also known by names such as jangiri.

Imarti piled up at a shopfront. Photo: S6uruchi, 2016, location unknown. A downscaled version from the source is used; content not changed after retrieval (Source / CC BY-SA 4.0).

Piping a bean batter through a cloth bag

The main ingredient is urad dal, black gram with the skins removed. It is soaked in water and then ground finely with a small amount of water. The batter is made soft enough to flow from a piping bag, while being kept thick enough for the pattern to hold in the oil.

The batter is put into a cloth bag with a small hole or something similar. The bag is squeezed to draw lines into ghee in a wide, shallow pan, first forming the central ring and then drawing small loops around the outside. The maker matches the speed of squeezing with the speed of the hand’s movement so that the line does not become too thick or break.

Soaking sweetness into the fried lines

Once fried on both sides, the imarti is moved into syrup that has been boiled in advance. The bean batter has fine air pockets, so the fried loops absorb the syrup. The syrup is drained off and the pieces are arranged on trays or in baskets, allowing the crispness of the surface and the sweetness inside to settle.

The concentration of the syrup and the soaking time vary from maker to maker, and there are also differences in coloring and aroma. Some methods add aroma with saffron or cardamom, or color the batter with food coloring.

Frying amriti at a shop in Kolkata. Photo: Biswarup Ganguly, 2012. A downscaled version from the source is used; content not changed after retrieval (Source / CC BY 3.0).

Ingredients and lines that set it apart from jalebi

Jalebi is also a sweet made by drawing lines of batter into oil, frying them and soaking them in syrup. However, while typical jalebi is based mainly on wheat flour or similar ingredients, imarti uses a bean batter. Its appearance also differs: jalebi layers thin spirals, whereas imarti forms loops around the outside with a thick line.

Production records from Jaunpur document tools such as wide iron pans, cloth bags and grinding stones, as well as the work of sweet shops that have made it for generations. It is also handed out at weddings and celebrations. Jaunpur imarti was registered in 2024 as a Geographical Indication in India, as a product tied to its place of origin. The work of grinding urad dal and frying it in ghee is recorded together with the name of this town’s sweet.

Glossary