India has a diverse range of sweets that people love and are quite proud of. Several foreign food and travel bloggers are now also exploring and appreciating Indian food. But did you know that India's beloved sweet, jalebi, has a Chinese twin? It is called tang huan, or sugar spirals.
Yu Jing, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in India, highlighted the similarity in an X post. “From China's sugar ring to India's jalebi, the spirals of deliciousness bring crunch to every bite,” she wrote.
Along with the post, she shared pictures of the lookalikes.
From China's sugar ring to India's jalebi, the spirals of deliciousness bring crunch to every bite. 😋🇨🇳🇮🇳 From China's sugar ring to India's jalebi, these coils of taste add crunch to every mouthful. 😋🇨🇳🇮🇳 #SugarRing #Jalebi #ChinaIndia #FoodConnects Yu Jing (@ChinaSpox_India) October 30, 2026
The post surprised many X users. Here are some reactions:
“I had learned Mandarin Chinese language, but nobody told me about this similarity between China and India sweets. Wish I could eat this China's sugar ring one day,” one user wrote.
Another asked, “So there is a Chinese version of Jalebi! What is the difference in it?”
A third added, “Food culture connects people.”
More About China's Sugar Ring – Tang Huan
Sugar rings are thin, delicate, round pieces of deep-fried batter. They are airy, crispy, delicious and addictive, much like jalebi.
While jalebi is a popular sweet for festive occasions in India, sugar rings are especially prepared at home to celebrate the Chinese New Year. In fact, there is a tradition that if you say something bad in the kitchen, it will go into the sugar ring, meaning the whole of the next year will not be good.
Jalebi is purely vegetarian, whereas sugar rings contain eggs.
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How To Make Chinese Sugar Rings
To make them, four eggs are whisked together before adding water, followed by a 50:50 mixture of bread flour and cake flour, cornflour, custard powder, baking powder and sugar. The batter is then strained and is ready to use.
The molds used to make sugar rings are made of metal. These are dipped into the batter and then submerged in hot oil.
The mold is gently shaken to release the sugar ring, which continues to cook in the hot oil. Serve and enjoy.
India's Jalebi
Jalebi is a spiral-shaped sweet popular across India. It is filled with a sugary syrup called 'chashni'. Crispy on the outside, jalebi offers a satisfying crunch with a burst of warm, sweet chashni in every bite.
Jalebi is usually orange or yellow in colour.
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How Is The Jalebi Recipe Different?
Traditional jalebi is prepared using a batter made with all-purpose flour, yoghurt, besan, turmeric (for colour), baking soda, lemon juice and water, which is left to ferment overnight.
The sticky chashni is prepared by adding sugar to boiling water. It is flavored with cardamom powder and saffron.
The batter is transferred into a squeezable sauce bottle and piped into hot oil in spiral shapes. The jalebis are fried until they develop their characteristic texture.
The hot jalebis are then soaked in sugar syrup. They can be enjoyed on their own or served with milk, rabri or savory snacks such as samosa or fafda.