Street Sweet · Ramadan Favorite
Zalabiya (Sudanese Fried Dough)
Photo: Ghada Elajb / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0
Sudanese families traditionally pass the recipe for salabia down from mother to child, and the fritters are eaten for breakfast with sweet milky tea to fuel a full day of fasting during Ramadan.
Zalabiya (also spelled salabia) are small balls of yeasted dough deep-fried until golden, then rolled in sugar or drizzled in syrup while still hot. Vendors in Khartoum's markets fry them fresh in open pans, scooping the dough straight into bubbling oil with a spoon.
Why it's made this way: Though related to fritters found across North Africa and the Middle East, in Khartoum zalabiya is a home-taught craft — most families use their own hand-me-down batter recipe, and street stalls selling them appear everywhere as Ramadan approaches.
More from Sudan
Sudanese Coffee (Gahwa)
Ful Medames
Tamiya
Gurasa (Sudanese Flatbread)
Karkadé (Hibiscus Tea)
Abreh (Hulu-Mur Sorghum Drink)
Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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