Luqaimat; Sweet Dumpling Made in Southern Iran

This dessert is similar to Bamieh or Persian doughnut and can be decorated with various types of chocolate, powdered sugar, etc. It is very popular is the holy month of Ramadan.

Ingredients:

Flour: 3 cups
Corn Starch: 1 tbsp
Sugar: 1 tbsp
Instant Dough Powder: 2 tbsp
Salt: ¼ tsp
Vanilla, Cardamom, Cinnamon: ¼ tsp
Yogurt: 2 Cups
Frying Oil: As much as needed

Directions:

First, pour the flour, cornstarch, sugar, yeast and vanilla powder (or your favorite spice) and a little salt into a large bowl. Stir with an electric mixer or a wooden spoon until well combined. Then add the yogurt and stir on medium speed to mix well with the rest of the ingredients and get a wet sticky dough.

The thickness of the mixture should be something between a thick cake dough and a loose and sticky dough. Be sure to use yogurt that is kept at room temperature. If you use cold yogurt, it will take a long time for the dough to get ready.

Cover the bowl with cellophane and let it rest in a warm place for an hour (or in the refrigerator overnight) until the dough doubles in size.

In a deep frying pan, pour enough oil (5 cm deep) and heat over low temperature until it gets completely hot (175 to 190 degrees Celsius). Prepare the syrup (the syrup can be any sweet juice you like) or any other coating you have in mind.

Pour the dough into the funnel. Bring the tip of the funnel close to the oil. With one hand, press the top of the funnel until about one and a half centimetres of the dough comes out from the tip of the funnel. Then grease your other hand and press on the tip of the funnel to pour the dough into the hot oil.

You can also use a small ice cream scoop. To do this, dip the scoop head in cold oil. Place a small bowl of oil near the pan and dip the scoop’s head in the oil every time. This makes it easy to pour the mixture.

Fry the dough balls, stirring constantly in the oil and moving them, and press them with a hand-held strainer so that they sink into the oil and become uniformly golden. Using the strainer, remove the fried balls from the oil, allowing the excess oil to drip into the pan. Immediately pour the hot bites into a bowl of cold sweet syrup (or date juice) and stir. Then put them in a large strainer to remove excess syrup.

Put the Luqaimats in a large serving dish and garnish with powdered pistachios. The best time to serve is one to three hours after cooking. You can also garnish them with chocolate and powdered sugar.