also known in greek as loukoumades ....this recipe is for "you-know-who". enjoy!
we eat these at hanukkah and other holidays like purim. deep-fried deliciousness!
makes a lot. i suggest cutting the recipe in half if it is just for a few people or a small family. they can be made a few hours ahead and are meant to be served at room temperature. do not cover with plastic wrap or they will stick to it! use tin foil instead.see my post called, lokma lessons, and read it before starting this to get a visual idea of what you will be doing. this version does not use eggs or honey and is suitable for vegans.
ingredients:
2 to 2 1/4 c AP flour
1 1/2 tsp dry yeast [like fleischmann's reg or *rapid rise]
2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 c (up to 2 c) water [warm]
1 tbsp margarine melted
1 tsp lemon juice
1 - 2 tsp orange flower or rose water [optional]
orange or lemon zest [optional - add to dough]
3 c sugar
1 1/2 c water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 -2 tbsp orange flower or rose water [optional]
finely ground or chopped pistachios
lemon or orange zest
method:dissolve the yeast in 1/2 c water with 1 tsp sugar. when proved, add the rest [3/4 c] of the water, salt and sugar to the yeast and then the lemon juice and the flour and melted margarine. start with 2 c of flour. if it is too thin you may add the rest of the flour. mix well to make a thickish batter. add enough water to make a thick pancake like batter. let this rise for about an hour to an hour and a half. it needs to double.
*if you're using the rapid rise yeast, put all the dry ingredients together and add the wet ones. then continue recipe.
while that doubles, make the syrup. add sugar, water and lemon juice to a pot. put on medium heat and stir until all is dissolved. bring to a small boil and let syrup cooking WITHOUT STIRRING for about 10 to 15 minutes. if you stir you may seed/crystallize the sugar and ruin it. test after 10 minutes if it is thick enough. it should be a thin syrup but not too thin. sort of like maple syrup. add the orange or rose waters at the end, if using. keep aside as you make the lokma.
after the batter doubles, heat oil for deep frying. be careful!
put some oil in a small cup about a 1/4 c. with a tablespoon. coat the spoon with oil and dip into the batter and carefully add to the oil. we make small — think quail egg size — balls. re-dip the spoon every few times. fry the balls until golden about 3 minutes or so. turn them in the oil to make sure both sides brown. place them on a paper towel to absorb the oil. make sure that the oil is at the correct temperature — too low and they fry too long, absorb a lot of oil and become very hard and too hot, they will fry too quickly, taste raw and burn.
when they are all fried, rewarm the syrup and dip the pastries in it. the rule of thumb is always hot pastry to cold syrup or cold pastry to hot syrup to aid in absorption.
place on a platter and serve extra syrup to drizzle.
garnish with the lemon or orange zest and pistachios.
you may want to halve the recipe to try it out or if you are not serving many people.
enjoy!
Hi BB,
ReplyDeleteThank you, תודה רבה & shokran!
Did you make the lokma in the picture? They look wonderful. I have to admit to being almost afraid of trying the recipe for fear of overindulging 8^)
aja
c'mon!! באמת :P
ReplyDeleteyou mean to tell me you'd pass up a plate of homemade lokma??!!
unfortunately, i couldn't find the pic i had of the ones i made last year but they look exactly the same as the one i posted. i love the pistachio garnish with the zest. it also makes a big difference visually, presentation-wise.
c'mon aja, u need to do this! start with half the recipe. and share. then u can't say u feel guilty. ;;p
just open a window when you fry them. i also usually do it in a cast iron shallow fry pan [more surface space]. just be careful with the hot oil.
temptation, temptation... actually, I might just save this for when my mom visits - make a special occasion even more special - and bring back some great memories for her as well as me. I promise I will let you know what happens. btw, guilt isn't a factor - getting through doorways might be once I find out how truly easy they are to make! ;^P
ReplyDeletesounds like a great idea for a mom & daughter activity.
ReplyDeletei flippantly say, forget the calories and indulge. life is short and delicacies like these every once in a while make it more enjoyable.
everything in moderation as they say.
How interesting, I never knew that there was another sweet called Lokma. When I saw this I automatically thought of the Turkish name for 'Turkish Delights'. You know....the Chewy candy with the nuts in it?
ReplyDeleteThese do look really good, and I really really want to try it out, but I think that the rose water in this recipe makes all the difference right? And unfortunately I had to throw out my rose water after suddenly discovering that the rose water I was using all this time had a 2% alcohol content *sigh* it was accompanied by much tears LOL.
Well, perhaps when I can find rosewater that doesn't have alcohol then i'll try them :)
Oh! Now that I read the recipe over again, I suddenly realize that it's almost exactly the same as what the Arabs call "Lukaimaat" !!
ReplyDeleteLukmah in Arabic means a small morsel, so Lukaimaat is plural.
However the one I use has yoghurt in it also...delish!It's a regular in our home in Ramadhan.
How silly of me not to realize the similarity! and I was thinking it was something new *knocks head* silly me lol :D
Maybe next time I will try to garnish it with pistachios :)
nafeesah - oh, poor you about the rose water. i find it strange that there was alcohol in it since it's usually a muslim produced product and therefore no alcohol in it. maybe you had some other kind. i hope you can get more in the bahamas somewhere. if you can find it, try the CORTAS brand. it's one of the best.
ReplyDeleteyes, the lokma means small pieces of goodness! :)) the thing you were thinking of is what people always get confused about: turkish delight = loucoom; fried pastry puffs = lokma/loucoumades/loukaimaat. so, LOL, no, it's not a new thing!! just a diff name but you already know it so....
btw, this is only one version. i also make one without the yeast which has yogurt and baking powder in it. this one is because it is "parveh" status so that we can have it when we eat a meat meal (we're can't mix meat and dairy when cooking or eating).
try it with the pistachios next time, it is a nice addition and decoration. we also put orange zest and instead of using rose water we use orange flower water/mazaher.
if u click on the link above in the beginning of this post, i have the recipe being made and what it looks like (if you didn't see it yet).