Zlabia (زلابية)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy frying pot
• •Squeeze bottle or piping bag with small round opening
• •Kitchen thermometer
• •Wire rack set over a tray

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the batter

   Whisk the flour, fine semolina, cornstarch, yeast, baking powder, turmeric or bloomed saffron, and salt in a deep bowl. Add the lukewarm water, orange blossom water, and vinegar, then whisk hard until the batter is smooth, loose, and pourable, like thin pancake batter. The vinegar helps the fried lace stay crisp under the honey, and the batter must be thin enough to pipe without breaking.

2. 2

   Let it wake

   Cover the bowl and let the batter rest 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the surface is bubbly and lightly swollen. Stir it down once after the first hour. This rest is not decoration: the yeast gives the zlabia its little open pores, and those pores drink the honey without turning the spiral heavy.

   If the batter has thickened too much after resting, whisk in water 1 tablespoon at a time. It should fall from the whisk in a ribbon.
3. 3

   Prepare the honey

   Warm the honey, sugar, 120ml water, and lemon juice in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the syrup looks glossy. Simmer 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and stir in the orange blossom water. Keep it warm, not boiling, so the fried spirals can soak without going limp.

4. 4

   Heat the oil

   Heat 5cm of neutral oil in a wide heavy pot to 175 C. If you don't have a thermometer, drop in a thread of batter: it should rise quickly with small lively bubbles, not sink, and not darken at once. Too cool, and the zlabia drinks oil. Too hot, and the outside colors before the center has set.

5. 5

   Pipe the spirals

   Pour the batter into a squeeze bottle, piping bag, or clean bottle with a small hole in the cap. Pipe directly into the oil in loose spirals, starting at the center and circling outward, then crossing once or twice so the lace holds together. Fry only 3 or 4 at a time so the oil stays steady.

6. 6

   Fry until amber

   Fry the zlabia 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning once, until deep golden amber and firm enough to lift without sagging. Let the bubbles calm and the edges crisp before you take them out. Drain for a few seconds only, then move them straight to the warm honey.

7. 7

   Soak and serve

   Dip the hot zlabia in the warm honey syrup for 1 to 2 minutes, turning gently so every ridge shines. Lift onto a rack set over a tray and scatter with sesame seeds if your table likes them. Serve the same day with mint tea, sticky fingers allowed.

Chef Tips

• •Use real honey if you can, or at least a clear honey with a clean taste. A tired syrup gives you sweetness and nothing else.
• •The batter teaches you by sight. La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes: if it pipes in a steady ribbon and leaves little bubbles when fried, you're there.
• •Do not crowd the pot. Zlabia needs room for the lace to set, or the spirals tangle and cook unevenly.
• •Eat it the day it is made. By tomorrow it will still be sweet, but it won't have that first crisp bite under the honey.

Advance Preparation

• •The honey syrup can be made 3 days ahead and warmed gently before frying.
• •The batter should be mixed and fermented the day you fry. Once the yeast is awake, it doesn't wait politely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 40g)