Zalabiyeh

 ( Arab Cuisine ) 

Zalabiyeh () is a fritter or doughnut found in several cuisines across the Arab world, West Asia and some parts of Europe influenced by the former. The fritter version is made from a semi-thin batter of wheat flour which is poured into hot oil and deep-fried.

The earliest known recipe for the dish comes from a 10th-century Arabic cookbook and was originally made by pouring the batter through a coconut shell.

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History The earliest known recipes for zalabiya comes from the 10th century Arabic cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh.

(2007). 9789004158672, BRILL. . ISBN 9789004158672

In the old Al-Baghdadi book of recipes of the Arabs; the dough was poured through a coconut shell. This style of fritter is similar to the Indian jelabi and a 16th-century recipe from German cuisine for strauben made using a funnel.

Different methods have developed in the preparation of the pastry dessert. According to Al-Mukaddasi (10th-century CE), the people in Greater Syria during winter "would prepare the unlatticed type of Zalabiya. This would be the deep-fried bread fritter Zalabiya. Some are elongated in shape, similar to crullers, while the smaller ones, sometimes made into balls, are similar to the shape of dumplings."

, ch. Zalabiya Fritters (Sweet Crullers) In North Africa, they would give the name Zalabiya to a different type of pastry, namely to the Mushabbak, being a deep-fried lattice-shaped pastry made by looping batter, and drenched in ʻasal (honey) syrup or qatr."

In 1280, the Jewish–Sicilian doctor Faraj ben Salim translated into Latin a pharmaceutical book, (English: The Table of Countries; Latin: Tacvini Aegritvdinvm et Morborum ferme omnium Corporis humani), which was authored by Ibn Jazla an Arab physician and consists of a number of Persian recipes, including one for "Zelebia".

Among Yemenite Jews, the zalabiyeh was a treat eaten especially during the winter months. In Yemen, the zalabiyeh was fried in a soapstone pot lined with oil about 1 cm. deep, in which oil and sometimes honey was mixed.

Y. Qafih (1982). 9789651701375, Ben-Zvi Institute. ISBN 9789651701375

There, zalabiyeh was "made from a soft yeast bread and which is fried on both sides in deep oil. There are those who add to the dough Nigella sativa for improved taste. They are eaten while they are still hot, while some have it as a practice to eat them with honey or with sugar."

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Early known origins According to King David's daughter prepared fritters () for her step-brother Amnon.Cf. David Kimhi, Commentary on 2 Samuel 13:8, who wrote: "...according to our Sages, of blessed memory, she made for him varieties of fried pastry, which is when they fry the dough in a frying pan containing oil." This same opinion is held by Levi ben Gershon, ibid, and by Rashi ( ibid.) who adds that the fine flour used to make the dough was first scalded in hot water before being fried in oil. By the 2nd-century CE, the name of the fritter had taken on the name sūfğenīn () in Mishnaic Hebrew, a word derived from its sponge-like texture with alveolar holes., s.v. Hallah 1:5 ( sūfğenīn, al-zalābiye) (Available online, at HebrewBooks.org: The Geonic Commentary on Seder Taharot - vol. 1), s.v. Keilim 5:1 (p. 15)Cf. Mishnah ( Hallah 1:5 (p. 83)); , s.v.

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Customs

Zalabiyeh are commonly eaten by Muslims during the month of Ramadan, and Indian Christian communities during Advent and Easter, and by Sephardic Jews for Hanukkah. In Lebanon they are eaten on the night of January 5 to celebrate the baptism of Jesus Christ. The dough is mixed with aniseed and, in the South of the country, three holes are made in the dough to symbolize the Holy Trinity. They are eaten in both their elongated form and their round form on that day.

Zalabiyeh (or zelebi) are a traditional sufgan ("spongy dough") for Persian Jews.

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Modern variations

The fritter is very common in the Indian subcontinent, in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh, although made differently to that of the Middle Eastern and North African variety. In many Middle Eastern and North African countries, such as Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, and also in Egypt, they resemble spongy-cakes fried in oil.

In Iran, where it is known as zolbiya, the sweet was traditionally given to the poor during Ramadan. There are several 13th-century recipes for the sweet, the most accepted being given in a cookbook by Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi.

Alan Davidson (2014). 9780199677337, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780199677337

In North Macedonia they are called Pitulitsi while in the Italy region of Apulia they are referred to as Pittule and are usually consumed in December.

In Iraq in the 20th-century, starch () was a basic ingredient in their zalabiyeh, topped with sugar. (reprinted in 1994) In North Africa, zalabiyeh was often made with yoghurt added to the dry ingredients.

They are known as zlebia in Tunisian cuisine, jalebie in the Filipino cuisine, zülbiya in Azerbaijan, gwaramari in Nepal and jilapi in Indian cuisine.

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See also

• Jalebi
• Sfenj
• Murukku
• Tulumba
• Lokma

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