Instructions

In a large bowl mix together flour (maida), chickpea flour (besan), baking powder and baking soda.
Add yogurt, cardamom powder and mix
Add food color (if using) and water to form a flowing consistency batter.
The batter should not be too thick or thin. You may need up to 3/4 water depending on quality of maida and besan.
Cover the batter and let the batter sit for 10-12 hours to ferment. Mine took 24 hours because I live in a cold place. You see small bubbles on top of the batter once it has fermented.
In morning, whisk the batter a little. You may need to add little water [around 1 tablespoon] if batter looks too thick at this point.
Meanwhile add sugar to a pan. Add water and mix with sugar and let it all come to a boil.
Once it comes to a boil, add cardamom powder, saffron strand and lemon juice.
Let it simmer till syrup becomes sticky and form a one string consistency. Basically place a drop of syrup in between your thumb and index finger and then when you move fingers away from each other, it should form a single thread.
If you can't get consistency, just make it sticky. Keep the syrup warm while you make the jalebis.
Transfer jalebi batter into a squeeze bottle. The one I used had a very small tip hence the thin jalebis.
Meanwhile heat oil or ghee in a pan or kadai. I used a combination of the two. Keep heat to medium-low.
Squeeze batter in hot oil, making spiral motion from inside to outside. Remember to keep at low heat else you won't be able to form the shape. If the batter is dispersing in the oil, maybe it's too thin and you need to add some flour to it. Once you have made the spiral shape with the batter, increase the heat to medium-high.
Fry till crisp from both sides. Remove from oil and immediately dip in warm sugar syrup, few seconds on each side is good enough.
Remove jalebis from the sugar syrup and transfer to a serving plate. Enjoy homemade jalebi with milk or rabri. You may garnish with some nuts on top!