Turkish lokma – little syrup-soaked doughnuts

More precisely – little doughnuts. Crispy, bite-sized, just one bite :). Yeast dough deep-fried in oil and soaked in sugar or honey syrup, often served with chopped nuts or cinnamon… In Turkey, they are very popular and sold all year round by street vendors, outside restaurants, during festivals or celebrations. In some parts of the country, they are traditionally served at funerals for poor people; in others, there is a custom of sharing lokma with neighbours when celebrating. The way they are shaped is particularly unusual – it resembles squeezing the dough from your hand, between two fingers. I found this difficult, especially the first time (and, to be honest, I did not even try…) and simply squeezed the dough from a piping bag, tearing off individual pieces. This recipe is courtesy of Emilia from the Turcja od Kuchni blog.

Makes 1 heaped plateful.

Ingredients for the lokma:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup water*
• 2 tsp dried yeast (8 g) or 16 g fresh yeast
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp sugar
• a pinch of salt

Ingredients for the syrup:

• 2½ cups water
• 2½ cups sugar
• freshly squeezed juice of ¼ lemon

Additionally:

• chopped or ground pistachios, for sprinkling
• oil, for deep-frying

Prepare the syrup first. Place the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook for approximately 15 minutes, until the syrup has thickened. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and stir. Set aside to cool.

Place the flour, dried yeast (if using fresh yeast, first prepare a yeast starter), egg, water, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead until the dough is smooth, soft and sticky. Cover with cling film or a linen tea towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in volume.

Heat the oil in a wide saucepan to 175°C. Tear off tiny balls of dough from the risen dough and drop them into the hot oil (you can also scoop up the dough with a teaspoon dipped in oil each time). Fry on both sides until golden brown. Immediately transfer the fried lokma to the cold syrup. After a few minutes, once they have absorbed the syrup, remove them to a plate.

Sprinkle with pistachios or other nuts and serve.

* 1 cup = 250 ml.

Enjoy!