Journey of the Jalebi from West Asia to India

by Guest Sat Sep 03, 2016 10:45 pm

During my first ever visit to a Tunisian restaurant — it was located in a small street off the Boulevard Saint-Michel — I noticed a platter of jalebis placed on a rack next to the cash counter and promptly ordered some after tucking into a couscous. Their taste was a little different from the Indian version of the confectionery. What accounted for the difference, I later found out from North African friends, was the yeast used to ferment the batter. And their syrup, in which the swirls of the batter were dipped after frying, contained honey and colouring, not sugar and saffron used in the Indian one. But none of this mattered to me as much as the name of the confectionery: Z'labia!

That was a good enough reason to investigate the provenance of the jalebi. I found one reference that aroused my curiosity. The Hobson-Jobson, first published in 1886, mentions under the entry 'jalaubee' that it is 'apparently a corruption of the Arabic zalabiya or the Persian zilabiya'. But there were no other details, no clues about how one could travel backwards, so to speak, to get to the source of the jalebi.
My hopes soared a bit when I learnt from the Oxford Companion To Food that the jalebi is known in Iran as 'zoolabiya' or 'zulubiya' and that it is prepared on special occasions and distributed to the poor during the month of Ramzan. In Lebanon, there is a pastry called 'zellabiya' but it is shaped like a finger rather than as a swirl. You also have versions of the jalebi in Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, though under different names. The Oxford Companion suggests that the original recipe of the confectionery is listed in Al Baghdadi's cookery book of the 13th century.

It would therefore be reasonable to conclude that the jalebi originated in West Asia and that it travelled to the Indian subcontinent as part of the Muslim trade, cultural and political bandwagons. A great deal has been written about Turkish, Persian, Arabic and Central Asian influences on Indian food and much else besides. But when precisely did the jalebi reach South Asia and gain such widespread popularity?...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food/food-reviews/Journey-of-the-jalebi/articleshow/5071902.cms

by silvermani Sun Sep 04, 2016 9:48 am

I do see jalebi/Z'labia in the rack at my local middle eastern store. Never felt like trying it because it doesn't seem like it sells much, if at all.

by Guest Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:21 am

silvermani wrote:I do see jalebi/Z'labia in the rack at my local middle eastern store. Never felt like trying it because it doesn't seem like it sells much, if at all.

try it. it tastes good with hot milk.

by Sponsored content

Journey of the Jalebi from West Asia to India

Journey of the Jalebi from West Asia to India

Re: Journey of the Jalebi from West Asia to India

Re: Journey of the Jalebi from West Asia to India

Re: Journey of the Jalebi from West Asia to India