Arabic recipesSweets
Awama (Luqaimat) Recipe: Extra-Crisp Fried Sweet Dough Balls in Syrup
Awama, also called luqaimat or luqmat al-qadi, are airy yeasted dough balls enriched with cornstarch and fried twice until shatteringly crisp outside and pillowy inside. In the Levant they are plunged straight into cold orange-blossom sugar syrup, while in the Gulf they are drizzled with date syrup and sesame.
Also known as:LuqaimatLuqmat al-qadiLevantine awamaCrunchy Arabic sweet dumplings
Servings6
Prep time65 min
Cook time20 min
Ingredients
Add ingredients to cart- 300 g all-purpose wheat flour
- 50 g cornstarch (about 4 tbsp for a crisp shell)
- 1 tbsp instant yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, a pinch of salt and an optional 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tbsp room-temperature plain yoghurt and about 280 ml lukewarm water
- Neutral vegetable oil for deep-frying
- For the cold heavy syrup (qater): 400 g sugar, 220 ml water, 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp orange blossom water (or date syrup and toasted sesame)
Preparation Steps
- 1Prepare the syrup first so it chills completely: boil the sugar, water and lemon juice for 8 minutes until thick, stir in the orange blossom water off the heat and refrigerate.
- 2Combine the flour, cornstarch, yeast, sugar, salt and cardamom, then add the yoghurt and lukewarm water gradually, beating vigorously for 4 minutes into a stretchy, thick batter; cover and let rise for 50 to 60 minutes.
- 3Stir the risen batter down to knock out large gas pockets, squeeze small rounds of batter up between thumb and forefinger, scoop them off with an oiled teaspoon and drop into medium-hot oil.
- 4For the first fry, cook the balls just until set and very pale blonde, lift onto a wire rack and allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes.
- 5Reheat the oil and fry the cooled balls a second time, turning continuously until deep golden and crisp all over, then drain briefly and dunk straight into the ice-cold syrup or drizzle with date syrup and sesame.
