National sweet of India

The earliest written references to the sweet are found in a 13th century cookbook by Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi. In Iran, where it is known as Zlebia, the sweet was traditionally given to the poor during Ramadan.It likely arrived in the Indian subcontinent during the period of Muslim rule, through cultural diffusion and trade, and its local name is Jalebi as Z is replaced by J in most Indian languages.One of the earliest known Indian references for the sweet exists in a Jain work — Priyamkarnrpakatha — by Jinasura, apparently composed in AD 1450. This work was subsequently cited in cookery books published in later centuries including the 17th-century classic Bhojan-kutuhala by Raghunatha.