Algerian Recipes

Zlabia

Zlabia, also written zalabia, and a close relative of the jalebi of South Asia, is a spiral of fermented batter piped into hot oil, fried until crisp, then dropped straight into cold syrup. In Algeria it belongs to Ramadan almost exclusively. Through the fasting month it is made and sold in quantity, and it is one of the sweets that appears on the table at iftar alongside the dates and the soup. Its bright orange coils are one of the visual markers of the month. The dish travels across an enormous stretch of the world under variations of the same name, jalebi in India and Pakistan, zoolbia in Iran, zalabia across the Arab world, which reflects centuries of movement along trade and pilgrimage routes. Algerians make it their own way, built on flour, starch and yeast, and scented with rose water and lemon in the syrup. The technique has one governing rule, the same one that decides kanafeh: temperature contrast. Hot fried batter into cold syrup gives a shell that stays crisp while the inside takes on sweetness. Both hot, and it goes limp within minutes. The batter also needs a genuine rest. It is yeasted, and that fermentation is what gives the finished spiral its faint tang against the sugar.

★★★★★Highest Rated

MediumAlgeria

Recipe by Blessing · Africook

Mhadjeb

Mhadjeb, also written mhajeb, mahjouba or m'hadjeb depending on the region and the transliteration, is an Algerian stuffed flatbread built from semolina dough stretched until it is almost translucent, folded around a cooked filling of onion, tomato and pepper, then griddled flat. It belongs to street food and to Ramadan. Through the fasting month it appears on stalls across Algerian towns in the hour before sunset, stacked and sold by the piece, and it is one of the dishes most associated with the table at iftar. Outside Ramadan it is everyday food, made in quantity at home and eaten warm. The name carries a story that Algerians tell about its origin. Mahjouba was said to be a woman who did not leave her house, and in Algerian usage the word carries both meanings at once, the secluded woman and the honourable one. She made these breads and sent them out with her children to sell in the market. The dish took her name and kept it. What makes it technically distinctive is the stretching. The dough is worked with oil rather than flour, then pulled out by hand on an oiled surface until it is thin enough to read through, which is what gives the finished bread its layered, papery texture against a soft, well-cooked filling.

★★★★★Highest Rated

MediumAlgeria

Recipe by Nympha · Africook

Makroud el Louse (Algerian Almond Cookies)

Makroud el louse is the almond version of makroud, and it is a genuinely different cookie from the one that name usually brings to mind. Ordinary makroud is a semolina pastry stuffed with date paste and deep-fried, then soaked in syrup. Makroud el louse has no semolina, no dates and no frying: it is ground almonds, sugar and egg, shaped, baked, dipped in an orange-flower syrup and rolled in icing sugar. "Louse" is the Algerian word for almond, so the name simply distinguishes the almond one. Both are cut on the diagonal into the same lozenge shape, which is where the shared name comes from, makroud derives from the Arabic for something cut at an angle. The shape is the family resemblance; the ingredients are not. Because there is no flour in the dough, this version is naturally gluten-free, which is unusual among North African pastries and is worth knowing if you need it. One caution: the source's own instructions send you to a floured work surface, which would undo that. Use icing sugar or a little extra ground almond instead. These are keeping cookies. Sealed in a tin they hold for over a month, which is why they are made in quantity for Eid, Ramadan and weddings rather than a few at a time.

45 minMediumAlgeria

Recipe by Nympha · Africook

Baklawa

Baklawa is layered phyllo pastry filled with crushed nuts and soaked in honey syrup, and in Algeria it is festive food, made for occasions rather than everyday. It is an Ottoman inheritance, and versions of it are made from the Balkans to Egypt under closely related names. The regional differences are real. Turkish fistikli baklava is made with pistachios and a simple sugar syrup. Middle Eastern versions scent the syrup with rosewater. Greek baklava uses walnuts with a generous quantity of cinnamon. The Algerian version leans on almonds and walnuts with honey, and this recipe follows the walnut and cinnamon line, which sits closer to the Greek than to the Turkish. Three components make it, and thinking about it that way makes it manageable: the phyllo, the nut mixture, and the syrup. The rule that decides whether it works is temperature. Cooled syrup goes onto hot pastry, never hot onto hot, and you should hear it sizzle when it hits. Get that wrong and the layers go soggy instead of staying crisp. It then needs four to six hours, or overnight, for the syrup to work through, so it cannot be made and served the same afternoon.

2 hr 15 minMediumAlgeria

Recipe by Blessing · Africook