Luqaimat

Luqaimat are delicious Middle Eastern fried mini doughnuts, very popular in Ramadan, and doused in a fragrant sugar syrup. SO good!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Resting Time 30 minutes

Servings people

Calories 555kcal

Author Farah Abumaizar

Ingredients

For the sugar syrup:

2 cups sugar 400g
1 cup water
squeeze of lemon juice
1 tablespoon rose water
1 tablespoon orange blossom water

For the luqaimat:

1 cup flour 125g
1 tablespoon cornstarch (cornflour)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup lukewarm water (up to 3/4 cup if needed)
vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

For the sugar syrup:

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and lemon juice. Set on a stovetop over medium high heat. Stir just to combine then let it be. If sugar isn’t dissolving you can stir a couple times but as soon as it starts to boil stop stirring.
Once off the heat, stir in rose water and orange blossom water, and transfer to a bowl to cool.

For the luqaimat dough:

Add the flour, cornstarch, sugar, instant yeast, baking powder, salt and oil to a large bowl. Slowly add in the lukewarm water (starting with 1/2 cup) until the mixture looks like cake batter, or a thick pancake batter. You may need to add up to 3/4 a cup of water. Cover the bowl and let it rise for 30 minutes.
After the resting time is over, add enough vegetable oil to a saucepan to come up a few inches. Heat over medium high heat, then test the temperature by adding a drop of batter. If it floats too quickly, oil is too hot, if it takes a long time to start sizzling it needs to heat more.
Place the batter into a large ziploc bag, and snip off the corner of the bag (a makeshift piping bag).
Squeeze the bag gently and use kitchen scissors you dipped in oil (to prevent the batter sticking) to snip little teaspoon sized dollops of batter carefully into the oil (watch the video to see how to do this!)

To fry:

Fry for a few minutes, moving the batter around in the hot oil with a slotted spoon to evenly cooked all the sides.
Once golden brown, move to a paper towel lined plate to drain for a few seconds. Keep cooking the remaining batter in batches without overcrowding the oil.
Drizzle the sugar syrup generously over the lugaimat and allow them to soak in the syrup for a few minutes (or place them in a bowl with the sugar syrup). Enjoy warm! Or room temp, still delicious.

Video

Notes

Storing Leftovers: Luqaimat are definitely best enjoyed fresh, but if you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container for a few days at room temperature.

Leftover sugar syrup lasts very well in the fridge for a few weeks, and you can repurpose it in a lot of Middle Eastern desserts.

You can also drizzle with date syrup instead of the sugar syrup, according to your preference!

Nutrition