Zalabiyeh is a fritter made from a semi-thin batter of wheat flour which is deep-fried and often topped with either honey or sugar syrup for sweetness. When kneading the dough, it is customary to give to the zalabiyeh a round shape, similar to the Moroccansfenj in preparation, or to the English doughnut, but without the hole. The fritter is very common in the Indian subcontinent, in countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, although made differently to that of the Middle Eastern variety. In many Middle Eastern countries, such as Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and also in Israel, they resemble spongy-cakes fried in oil. Zalabiyeh are commonly eaten by Muslims during the month of Ramadan, and during the Diwali celebrations for Hindus and Christian communities during Advent and Easter. 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.
Origin
Zalabiyeh as a fried-dough dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE, when King David's daughter prepared fritters for her step-brother Amnon, based on. 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. In Iran, where it is known as zolbiya, the sweet was traditionally given to the poor during Ramadan. A 10th century cookbook gives several recipes for zalabiyeh. There are several 13th century recipes of the sweet, the most accepted being mentioned in a cookbook by Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi. It was also mentioned in a tenth century Arabic cookbook by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, that was later translated by Nawal Nasrallah. In Iraq in the 20th-century, starch was a basic ingredient in their zalabiyeh, topped with sugar. In North Africa, zalabiyeh was often made with yoghurt added to the dry ingredients.
