Luqaimat
These sweet crispy dumplings are produced with a sweet dough that includes flour, yeast, sugar, saffron, and cardamom. They're the perfect bite-sized treats that you won't be able to stop eating. Luqimat is a fried dish that is served with either sweet or date syrup on top. It is popular during Ramadan but is available year-round in prominent local restaurants. You might also come across innovative and modern variants of this dumpling, loaded with Nutella, lotus, or pistachio sauce, among other things.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour, ½ tsp instant yeast, ½ cup milk powder, 2 tbsp sugar, ½ tsp cardamom powder, pinch of saffron, lukewarm water as needed approximately 1/3 cup, oil for deep frying, 1/2 cup date syrup or more for dressing, 1 tbsp sesame seeds for spinkling
Instructions
- Add all purpose flour, yeast, milk powder, sugar, cardamom powder and saffron in a bowl and mix well.
- Slowly add water while gently mixing with your hand to get a sticky batter. The batter will be more like a dough than batter. More like a thick medu vada batter.
- Cover with a muslin cloth and allow to rest for a couple of hours in a warm place till it has doubled in size
- Heat oil and drop the batter by spoonful. (Dipping the spoon in water in between prevents the batter from sticking to the spoon and makes it easier to drop. Alternatively you can drop the batter in a zip lock bag. Cut out the corner of the bag and push to get a small ball of the batter in your hand. Drop this ball immediately in oil. You can dip your hand in water to avoid sticking.)
- Roll the dropped balls with a slotted spoon in oil for even cooking. Fry till they are dark golden brown in color. Remove from oi and place on a kitchen towel.
- Place them in a serving bowl and pour the date syrup on top, sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Relish while still warm.
