Salva Mubarak Senior Features Writer

Nikita Shah’s journey as a food influencer was far from planned. The Instagram chef and award-winning recipe creator studied to be a biomedical engineer and was developing a jewellery business when the pandemic hit, forcing everyone indoors during the lockdown.

While the rest of us were fervently following ‘Flat Abs and Toned Legs in 5 Days’ video tutorials and setting a new record for watching the maximum number of cheesy rom-coms in a day, Nikita was laying the foundation for Salt In All, an online platform where the creator shared her culinary experiments with the rest of the world.

“I’ve always been passionate about food so I started cooking at home and posting the recipes on my private handle. When I started getting a good response to my recipes, a lot of my friends and family told me that I should share them with the public,” says Nikita, on how it all started, “Salt is in everything, whether savoury or sweet, and it’s the most important flavouring agent as well when it comes to food. This is why I went with the name Salt In All.”

Over the past four years, the content creator has amassed hundreds and thousands of followers and won awards like the FBAI Home Chef & Baker Awards 2020 and the FBAI Innovative Recipe on Instagram 2022. Nikita considers it a big achievement that she has managed to create a platform where she can help more people discover the joy of food and cooking it. One of the best ways she does this is by creating recipes that are easy and approachable.

“The way I create recipes is I make sure that everything is easily available in my pantry and hence it should ideally be available in someone else’s pantry as well... I would not want someone to go out of their way to collect or buy ingredients to make my recipes. I’ve always wanted to push out easy and simple recipes. These days, time is money and not everyone has the time to cook elaborate meals at home... so, my recipes should taste good and should be nutritious and wholesome.”

With Holi around the corner, Nikita is super excited to be surrounded by loved ones and enjoy good food that she would, inevitably, have a big hand in preparing. In her characteristic manner, Nikita has come up with a recipe that could take the pressure off anyone who wants to dabble in cooking during the festive season. “It’s an Instant Jalebi,” she says, “I recently went to Delhi and I had these crispy jalebis when this recipe came to me. Jalebis can be a little tedious, in terms of making the batter and everything. This Instant Jalebi just uses bread and can be prepared in just 15-20 minutes.”

If you want to try Nikita Shah’s Instant Jalebi at home, here’s the full recipe:

Nikita Shah’s ‘Instant Jalebi’ Recipe

Ingredients

Sugar Syrup:

• ¾ cup Sugar
• ½ cup Water
• 5-6 strands Saffron
• 2-3 drops Lemon Juice

Jalebi Batter:

• 3 pieces White Bread Slice
• 1 ½ tbsp Corn Flour
• 2 ½ tbsp Curd
• ¼ cup Milk (increase quantity depending on batter consistency)
• Oil for frying

Method

1. Heat sugar, water and saffron in a saucepan, and bring it to a boil till the sugar dissolves
2. Turn off the flame and add in a few drops of lemon juice to avoid crystallization, mix well and keep aside.
3. In a blender, combine all the ingredients mentioned and add milk in parts to get a dosa batter-like consistency.
4. Transfer the batter to a piping bag or bottle.
5. Make jalebis in hot oil and fry till they are crispy.
6. Dunk them immediately in the sugar syrup till it’s coated well from all sides.
7. Serve with a garnish of pistachio & rose petals.