2 ½ cups sugar
1 cup water
½ tablespoon lemon juice
½ tablespoon rose water
1 package dry yeast or 2 ¼ teaspoons
1 teaspoon sugar
3 cups warm, but not hot water (about 110F.)
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla (not traditional) optional
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
- Put the sugar, water and lemon juice in a 2 quart saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the temperature to medium, do not stir, and let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes or until it is syrupy and coats a spoon or 225F. on an instant read thermometer. Remove pan from the heat and add the rose water, chill syrup until ready to use.
- Place yeast and sugar in a small glass bowl. Add ½ cup of warm water and stir just to combine. Let mixture sit for about 10 minutes until it is very foamy.
- Place flour in a 3 quart mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand electric mixer and add the salt and the yeast mixture. Now add the remaining warm water and beat by hand for about 7-10 minutes or by machine for 5 minutes until the batter is smooth and elastic.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour (or refrigerate overnight. Beat again and let rise again to be light and airy.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, wok or deep fryer to a depth of 1 ½-2 inches. Oil should be hot but not smoking.
- There are two traditional ways to handle this dough. Either drop teaspoons of dough into the oil and turn them around to brown on all sides forming irregularly shaped balls of dough OR put some of the batter into a funnel and pour it into the hot oil in a circular motion to create a “rose” coil.
- When Zalabia are done, drain on paper towels and then dip or soak them in the cold syrup until coated. Remove with a fork and place on a very lightly oiled plate and serve.
Tina’s Tidbits:
- Although the batter is not as sweet as American palates would like, the sweet syrup makes this a wonderful treat.
- The oil should not be too hot or the dough will be very brown on the outside before the interior is totally cooked.
- If a little bit of dough does not begin to sizzle then the oil is not hot enough. If the oil begins to smoke then it is too hot and will impart an off taste to the finished product.
- Lemon juice is added to sugar syrup to prevent it from crystallizing when it is cool.
- The deeper the oil, the more rounded the balls but if making rosettes, then oil does not need to be more than 1 inch deep.