Jalebi

"Jalabi" redirects here. For the village in Iran, see Jalabi, Iran.

"Jilebi" redirects here. For the 2015 film, see Jilebi (film).

Jalebi being prepared in a roadside shop in Bangalore

Jalebi, also known as Zulbia, is a sweet popular in countries of South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa (except Morocco) and East Africa. It is made by deep-frying a wheat flour (maida flour) batter in pretzel or circular shapes, which are then soaked in sugar syrup. They are particularly popular in South Asia during Ramadan and Diwali.

The sweets are served warm or cold. They have a somewhat chewy texture with a crystallized sugary exterior coating. Citric acid or lime juice is sometimes added to the syrup, as well as rose water. Jalebi is eaten with curd, rabri (North India) along with optional other flavours such as kewra (scented water).

This dish is not to be confused with similar sweets and variants like imarti and chhena jalebi.

Names

Names for the dish include Hindi: जलेबी; Sanskrit : सुधा-कुण्डलिका, Marathi:जिलबी Bengali: জিলাপি; Telugu: జిలేబి; Kannada: ಜಿಲೇಬಿ; Punjabi/Urdu: جلیبی‎; Sindhi: جلیبی‎; Sinhala: පැණි වළලු; Pashto: jalebī; Tamil: ஜிலேபி; Pashto: ځلوبۍ‎ źəlobəi; Persian: زولبیا zulbia; Lurish: زلهیبی zuleybi; Arabic: zalābiyah or zalebi (Egyptian Arabic: مِشَبٍك Meshabek, Tunisian Arabic: Zlebia); Tagalog: Jalebie (Pronunciation: Halebi); Gujarati: જલેબી.

History

Jalebi batter being dropped in hot oil. Howrah, West Bengal

Jalebi is believed to be derived from a similar dish of West Asia. According to Hobson-Jobson, the word jalebi is a corruption of the Arabic zulabiya or the Persian zalibiya, the name for a similar dish. In Christian communities in West Asia, it is served on the Feast of the Theophany (Epiphany), often with dry sugar and cinnamon or confectioners sugar. In Iran, where it is known as zulabiya, the sweet was traditionally given to the poor during Ramadan. A 10th century cookbook gives several recipes for zulubiya. There are several 13th century recipes of the sweet, the most accepted being mentioned in a cookbook by Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi.

The dish was brought to Medieval India by the Persian-speaking invaders. In 15th century India, jalebi was known as Kundalika or Jalavallika. Priyamkarnrpakatha, a work by the Jain author Jinasura, composed around 1450 CE, mentions jalebi in the context of a dinner held by a rich merchant. Gunyagunabodhini, another Sanskrit work dating before 1600 CE, lists the ingredients and recipe of the dish; these are identical to the ones used to prepare the modern jalebi.

Ernest A Hamwi, a Syrian immigrant to the United States, is believed to have used the Persian version zalabia as an early ice cream cone.

Geographic distribution

File:Jilapi, Traditional Bangladeshi Sweetmeat, 13 April 2014 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.jpg

Jilapi in Bangladesh, generally consumed as a sweetmeat, happens to be one of the popular starters in different parties.

Zulbiā and bāmieh in Iran

Jalebi dipped in rabri

In Iran it is known as zulabiā (زولبیا) in Persian and in addition to being sweetened with honey and sugar is also flavoured with saffron and rose water.

In Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Iraq, it is known as "zalabia" (زلابية) (sometimes spelt "zalabiya"). In the Maldives, it is known by the name "zilēbi."

This sweet is called "jeri" in Nepal, a word derived from Jangiri and the Mughal Emperor Jahangir.

In Algeria and Tunisia, this sweet is known as zlebia or zlabia.

Zlebia (Maghreb)

Zlebia or zlabia (Maghrebi Arabic: زلابية) is a type of pastry eaten in parts of Northwest Africa, such as Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

Natural ingredients include flour, yeast, yoghurt and sugar or honey. This is then mixed with water and commonly two seeds of cardamom (oil for the crackling).

Zalābiya

Zalābiya are fried dough foods, including types similar to straight doughnuts. These are found in and around Iran and the Arab countries of Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Comoros and Algeria, as well as Israel, where it was brought by the Yemenite Jews and Iraqi Jews. They are made by a zalbāni. Zalābiya are made from a batter composed of eggs, flour and milk, and then cooked in oil.

Zalābiya mushabbaka are latticed fritters made in discs, balls and squares. They are dipped in clarified honey perfumed with rose water, musk and camphor. A recipe from a caliph's kitchen suggests milk, clarified butter, sugar and pepper to be added.

Zalābiya funiyya is a "sponge cake" version cooked in a special round pot on a trivet and cooked in a tannur. They are often stick shaped. They are eaten year-round, including in expatriate communities such as in France, although they are especially popular during Ramadan celebrations.

In popular culture

• Mallika Sherawat (as Kamini) played item song, "Jalebi bai" in the Hindi movie Double Dhamaal.
• Dhara Ghee used jalebi in advertisement.
• Four Tet named a song from his 2013 record Beautiful Rewind "Parallel Jalebi".
• 2015 Bollywood film Phantom had popular song named Afghan Jalebi.

See also

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