United Arab Emirates – Luqaimat ( Emirati Dessert )

by Adelina Aida

This is a dish of an all-time favorite. It is actually a dessert but can be served as a snack or at the time of Teatime party or Hi-Tea. Luqaimat is a deep-fried dough that is then dipped into the sugar syrup and served by adding some nuts, sesame seeds over it. It is a local traditional dish of the whole UAE. It is included in Omani cuisine, Emirati cuisine, Dubai cuisine, Saudia Arabia cuisine, etc. These are the small one-bite dish which is crispy outside and inside with the softness and sweetness. When it is dipped into the special aromatic flavored syrup, this gives the actual sweetness and richness to the dish.

These are also known as ”ARABIC DUMPLINGS”

This word LUQAIMAT is not actually the name of the dish. The actual name of the dish is the Arabic word, Luqmat-al-Qadi. There are many simple names of this dish as Luqaimat or just Lukma.

Meaning of the word ”Luqaimat-al-Qadi” is ”Judge’s Morsel”.

The Arabic word Lukma means, Bite or Mouthful. Luqaimat is the Plural word of the Lukma so lukaimat means many small bites together.

There are many alternatives names for the same dish like the following :

• Loukmades
• Loukomades
• Lokma
• Luqmat
• Luqmaiyat al qadi etc

Place of Origin of this dish

This dish is said that originated from many countries like Turkey, the United Emirates, Oman, etc. But the authentication of the origin of the dish is not well known. This dish is a part of the traditional cuisine of many countries and from there they said that it is originated from there. Following are the region from which this dish belongs to :

• Turkey
• Oman
• Greece
• Dubai
• Saudia Arabia
• Egypy
• Crypus

This dish has same base like a fried dough but now a days, There are many toppings and servings are made. Toppings of personal choice is used to served with them.

Toppings of Luqaimat ( varieties )

• Chocolate
• Nuts
• Cream
• Jam
• Coconut
• Sesame seeds
• Honey
• Chocolate syrup
• Caramel crunch
• Pistachios
• Cocopowder
• And many many more.

Traditional recipe for Luqaimat is from 13th century. It is very popular during Ottoman Empire and cooked daily.

Origin of dish : United Arab Emirates

Cuisne : Emirati cuisine

Course : Dessert/ snack

Time for preparation : 30 minutes

Serving temperature : Hot or Cold

Yield of people : 5 to 8 people

Texture : crispy from outside, soft inside

Ingredients of Lokma Dough

• 1 cup plain flour
• 4 Tablespoons dry milk
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons Icing sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter

Method of preparing dough

• Take all dry ingredients and sieve them 3 times until they get refined and smooth.
• Now combine all things together within a bowl and mix well.
• Add soft butter must be at room temperature.
• mix the mixture properly.
• Now knead the dough with lukewarm water.
• The dough must not be too tough or soft.
• Rest this dough for 20 to 30 minutes until the dough will rise.
• After 30 minutes, punch the dough to release all the air and left it to rise again for further 20 minutes.
• Now it’s time to make small bite-size balls of all the dough.
• Let them rest until the sugar syrup prepared

Ingredients of suagr syrup

• 2 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• a pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons Rosewater
• 2 green Cinnamon

Method of making sugar syrup

• Take a cooking pot and add suagr and water within it.
• Bring it to boil until suagr dissolved.
• Now add rosewater, cinnamon into it and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
• The consistency of the syrup must be thin.
• At last add lemon juice so the sugar syrup is cleared and ready and serve.

Frying of laqaimat small balls

• Take vegetables oil, so we have to deep fry the dough balls.
• Flame of the oil is medium low.
• After 10 minutes of prewarming at medium low flames.
• Start adding small dough balls into it.
• Fry them until they get slightly brown and dipped into the sugar syrup.

Dipping in the sugar syrup

• After frying dip the small balls into it .
• After 15 minutes of dipping, serve the balls by adding toppings over it.

Garnishing of the dish

• You can garnish this dish by sprinkle nuts, drizzle honey over it.
• You can add whipped cream in the center of the balls to make them more rich and delicious.
• Dipped the whole luqaimat into the chocolate.