Zoolbia bamieh

Ingredients

The syrup, for both

• 700 gsugar
• 400 mlwater
• juice of half a lemon
• a generous pinch of saffron
• ground and bloomed
• 2 tablespoonsrosewater
• added off the heat
• made first and chilled

The zoolbia batter

• 200 gplain yoghurt
• 150 gcornflour
• 100 gplain flour
• half a teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of saffron, bloomed
• about 100 ml warm water
• to loosen

The bamieh batter

• 250 mlwater
• 60 mloil
• or 60 g butter
• 1 tablespoonsugar
• half a teaspoon salt
• 150 gplain flour
• 3eggs, at room temperature
• beaten lightly

For frying

• 1 litreneutral oil
• or enough for 6 cm depth

Equipment

• a squeezy bottle, for zoolbia
• a piping bag with a star nozzle
• for bamieh
• a cooking thermometer
• a slotted spoon
• a wide bowl of cold syrup

Directions

1. Make it hours ahead if you can. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan. Heat it gently until the sugar dissolves. Stir until you feel no grains at all. Do not let it boil before it dissolves. Boil it for about eight minutes. It should thicken slightly but stay pourable.
2. Add the lemon juice at the end. The acid stops it crystallising later. Cool it for a full twenty minutes. Keep children well away from the pan. That is because of how it is harvested. Grind the threads to a powder first.
3. Use a small mortar or the back of a spoon. A pinch of sugar helps the grinding. Add a few tablespoons of hot water. Let it stand for at least ten minutes. Add the bloomed saffron to the syrup.
4. Add the rosewater off the heat at the end. Heat drives off rosewater entirely. Pour it into a wide shallow bowl. It also helps the batter ferment slightly. Whisk the yoghurt until smooth. Add the cornflour and the plain flour. Add the baking powder and bloomed saffron. Whisk it into a smooth batter.
5. Add warm water gradually to loosen it. The batter must flow in a thin steady stream. Let it stand for thirty minutes. Some cooks rest it for hours. Put the water, oil, sugar and salt in a pan.
6. Bring it to a full rolling boil. Take it off the heat immediately. Tip in all of the flour at once. Beat it hard with a wooden spoon. Return the pan to a low heat. Beat it for two or three minutes more. The dough should pull from the pan sides. Tip it into a bowl and cool it. Let it cool for ten minutes. It should be warm but not hot to touch.
7. Beat well after each addition. You may not need all the egg. Heat the oil in a deep heavy pan. Fill it no more than one third full. Never leave hot oil unattended at all. Keep a well fitting lid within reach. If it catches fire, turn off the heat.
8. Start it at about one hundred and forty. Dropped into hot oil it browns outside at once. Put the batter in a squeezy bottle. Cut a small hole in the cap if needed.
9. Hold it above the hot oil. Aim for a lacy disc about ten centimetres across. Work quickly, since it fries at once. Do not pipe from a height at all. Keep the nozzle close but not touching. Fry it for about a minute a side. Turn it with a slotted spoon. It should be crisp and lightly golden.
10. Cut each one off with kitchen scissors. Make them about four centimetres long. Fry them for eight to ten minutes total. They should be deep golden and hard-crisp.
11. Lift each piece straight from the oil. Drop it immediately into the cold syrup. Leave it in for one to two minutes. Zoolbia needs less time, being thin. Lift them out with a slotted spoon. Set them on a rack or a dish. Let the excess syrup drain off.
12. Let the oil return to the right temperature. They are served cold, never warm. Serve them together on one plate. Serve them with tea. They keep two days at room temperature. Use it for another batch.

Technique

• Cold syrup, hot fried batter. That temperature difference is the whole technique across this family of sweets: the crisp shell stays crisp while the inside soaks. Hot syrup on hot pastry gives sogginess and cold on cold does not soak at all. Make the syrup first and chill it.
• Zoolbia and bamieh fry at different temperatures and that matters. Zoolbia goes into moderate oil at about 170 and cooks in a minute a side. Bamieh must start in cool oil at about 140 with the heat raised gradually, so it expands and cooks through — dropped into hot oil it browns outside while staying raw within, and it can burst and throw hot oil.
• One to two minutes in the syrup and no longer. Zoolbia needs less, being thin; bamieh takes the full two. Left in, both turn soggy right through.
• Take bamieh out deep golden and hard-crisp. Pale ones collapse the moment they meet the syrup.
• Bloom the saffron. Grind the threads to a powder with a pinch of sugar, then steep the powder in a few tablespoons of hot water for ten minutes until it turns deep orange. Dropping whole threads into liquid wastes most of the colour and flavour, and blooming genuinely triples the effect.
• Add rosewater off the heat at the very end. Heat drives it off entirely.
• Let the cooked bamieh dough cool to warm before the eggs go in. Hot dough scrambles them, which is the commonest mistake in any choux-type batter.
• The zoolbia batter must flow in a thin steady stream, like a thin pancake batter. Test it before heating any oil — too thick and it will not pipe into lace, too thin and it disperses.
• Boiling sugar syrup burns worse than boiling water because it is hotter and sticks. Never taste from the pan; cool any splash under running water for a full twenty minutes.
• Bamieh belongs to the same family as Turkish tulumba, Bulgarian tolumbichki and Egyptian balah el sham. Zoolbia connects to jalebi and zalabia, running from Iran through India and west into North Africa. The atlas records both families and adjudicates no origin claim.
• Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice by weight because each flower yields three hand-picked stigmas. Iran is the largest producer, and that labour is the entire cost.

Substitutions

• Bought saffron powder replaces threads, though ground fresh threads are better and less often adulterated.
• A little turmeric gives colour without the flavour, and is what cheaper commercial versions use. The atlas notes that rather than recommending it.
• Rosewater can be replaced by orange blossom water, or left out entirely.
• A squeezy sauce bottle replaces a piping bag for zoolbia and is easier to control.
• Butter replaces oil in the bamieh batter for a richer pastry.
• Either sweet can be made alone, though they are almost always sold and eaten together.

Variations

• Bamieh piped into small rounds rather than fingers is equally common in Iran.
• Jalebi in India and Pakistan is zoolbia’s close relative, usually made with a fermented batter.
• Zalabia across North Africa and the Levant belongs to the same family under a related name.
• Turkish tulumba is bamieh’s direct relative and is usually made a little larger.
• Some Iranian shops add a little cardamom to the syrup alongside the saffron and rosewater.
• Goosh-e fil, elephant ear pastries, are the other great Iranian fried sweet sold at the same shops.

History

Bought by the box during Ramadan to break the fast; charities hand it out at mosques.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zoolbia bamieh?

Zoolbia bamieh is a dessert from Iran: syrup-soaked fried batter in spirals and finger shapes, orange and sticky. Bought by the box during Ramadan to break the fast; charities hand it out at mosques.

How long does Zoolbia bamieh take to make?

Zoolbia bamieh takes 40 minutes plus resting of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 10 or more. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Zoolbia bamieh?

Yes, within limits. Bought saffron powder replaces threads, though ground fresh threads are better and less often adulterated. A little turmeric gives colour without the flavour, and is what cheaper commercial versions use. The atlas notes that rather than recommending it. Rosewater can be replaced by orange blossom water, or left out entirely. A squeezy sauce bottle replaces a piping bag for zoolbia and is easier to control. Butter replaces oil in the bamieh batter for a richer pastry. Either sweet can be made alone, though they are almost always sold and eaten together.

What is the most important thing to get right in Zoolbia bamieh?

Make it hours ahead if you can. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan. Heat it gently until the sugar dissolves. Stir until you feel no grains at all. Do not let it boil before it dissolves. Boil it for about eight minutes. It should thicken slightly but stay pourable.