Luqaimat

crisp yeasted dough balls, hollow inside and drenched in date syrup: the sweet that ends every Gulf iftar

Origin: Doha, Dubai & the Arabian Gulf

From the journey of Wheat.

Luqaimat means little bites, and they are the fixed sweet of Ramadan across the whole Gulf. A loose yeasted batter is dropped into hot oil in rough spheres, fried until deep amber and crisp, and then dipped or drenched in dibs, date syrup, whilst still hot. Sesame goes over the top. No Gulf iftar table is considered complete without a plate of them. The batter is looser than a dough and that is the whole technique. It is closer to a thick pouring consistency than anything kneadable, which is why the traditional method is to squeeze it up through a fist and scoop off the ball that emerges with a wet spoon. Fried correctly they are hollow: crisp shell, steam inside, and almost nothing in between. A dense luqaimat means the batter was too stiff or the oil too cool. The family is very old and very wide. Tenth-century Baghdadi cookbooks describe luqmat al-qadi, the judge's morsel, fried in the same way and soaked in honey or syrup, and its descendants run from Greek loukoumades through Turkish lokma to these. What distinguishes the Gulf version is the syrup: date rather than honey, and often saffron and cardamom in it. They are made across Qatar, the Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Oman with only minor differences, and the Gulf treats them as common property rather than as any one country's dish.

Ingredients

Batter

  • 300 g plain flour
  • 3 tbsp cornflour
  • 7 g fast-action dried yeast
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp ground cardamom
  • 0.25 tsp saffron threads, steeped in 2 tbsp warm water
  • 350 ml warm water, approximately

Ingredients

  • 1 litre neutral oil, for deep frying

To finish

  • 200 ml date syrup (dibs)
  • 3 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Method

  1. Whisk the flour, cornflour, yeast, sugar, salt, and cardamom together.
  2. Add the saffron water and then the warm water gradually, whisking to a smooth batter. It should be thick but clearly pourable, like a heavy pancake batter rather than a dough.
  3. Cover and leave in a warm place for ninety minutes, until risen and covered in bubbles.
  4. Stir it down gently once. Do not beat the air out.
  5. Heat the oil to 170°C. Lower than you might expect, because they need time for the inside to hollow before the outside sets.
  6. Take up a handful of batter and squeeze it through your fist so a ball emerges between thumb and forefinger, scooping it off with a wet spoon into the oil. Two wet teaspoons work nearly as well.
  7. Fry in batches for four to five minutes, turning them so they colour evenly. They should go deep amber and rise to the surface as they hollow out.
  8. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain very briefly on paper, no more than a few seconds.
  9. Whilst still hot, either dip each one into the date syrup or pour the syrup over the bowl and turn them through it.
  10. Scatter with toasted sesame and serve at once, before the shells soften.

Notes

A batter, not a dough, and that is the single most common thing to get wrong; if it can be kneaded, add more water. Oil at 170°C rather than hotter, since a fierce heat sets the crust before the middle hollows. Wet the spoon between each ball. They must be dressed hot and eaten within twenty minutes or so, as the syrup softens the shell steadily. Honey works in place of dibs but gives a Levantine rather than a Gulf result.

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