Fried Fritter · Honey-Soaked
Zlebia
Photo: Habib M'henni / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
It's a cousin of the South Asian jalebi — the recipe traveled from shared medieval Arabic roots and ended up fried into nearly identical spirals thousands of miles apart.
A thin batter of flour, yeast and sugar is piped into hot oil in loose spirals, fried until crisp, then soaked in syrup. It's sold alongside makroudh in Kairouan's pastry shops and is especially popular during Ramadan.
Why it's made this way: Kairouan's own Wikipedia entry singles out zlebia, together with makroudh, as one of the two pastries that define the city's food identity.
More from Tunisia
Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.