Zalabia is the Moroccan name for a fried-dough sweet that exists across the entire Islamic world: it is called luqaimat in the Gulf, jalebi in South Asia, zlabia in North Africa, and each region claims it. The Moroccan version is made from a yeast batter piped into hot oil in spirals or coils, fried until crisp, and soaked in a sugar syrup scented with orange-blossom water. It is a Ramadan sweet, appearing the moment the month begins and vanishing the night it ends. The technique of piping the batter into oil is a skill: the cook squeezes the batter through a hole in a plastic bag or a piping cone, drawing a spiral freehand in the hot oil, and the shape sets instantly on contact.
The outside is crisp and glassy with syrup, the inside hollow, airy and faintly yeasty. The orange-blossom syrup soaks through the crackly shell. It is sweet, hot and gone in two bites.
The yeast in the batter creates two effects. During the rest, it produces carbon dioxide that aerates the batter, making it light enough to puff in the oil. In the hot oil, the gas expands rapidly, blowing out the center of each zalabia into a hollow shell, the same physics that puffs a doughnut or a cream puff. The batter must be thin enough to pipe through a nozzle but thick enough to hold its spiral shape on contact with the oil; too thin and it disperses, too thick and the center stays dense. The sugar syrup, kept warm, enters the hollow shell through the pores in the fried batter, sweetening from within.
Variations
Some add sesame seeds to the batter. A honey version replaces the syrup. In Algeria, zlabia is made in larger rectangular shapes.
On the Palate
Where Zalabia sits in the Moroccan flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12
How it's made
6 steps · 20 min
- 18 min
Whisk 2 cups flour, 1.5 cups warm water, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp yeast, 1 tbsp yogurt into a smooth batter; rest 1 hour until bubbly.
Watch outRest the batter an hour until it's bubbly and alive — that gas is what puffs each zalabia hollow in the oil; a flat batter fries dense.
- 28 min
Make syrup: 1.5 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp lemon juice, simmered 8 min; off heat add 1 tbsp orange-blossom water; keep warm.
- 38 min
Heat oil to 180 degrees C. Pipe the batter through a piping bag or plastic bag with a small hole, drawing spirals directly into the hot oil.
Watch outThe batter must be thin enough to pipe but hold its spiral on contact — too thin it scatters in the oil, too thick the center stays raw.
- 43 min
Fry until golden and crisp, about 2 min per piece; turn once.
- 53 min
Drop into the warm syrup for 30 seconds; drain.
Watch outDip the hot fried spiral into the warm syrup for 30 seconds so it drinks in through the pores — cold syrup just glazes the outside.
- 62 min
Serve warm.
