Luqaimat, a popular Middle Eastern dessert, deep-fried balls of pastry covered in date syrup or honey. Crunchy and soft, Luqaimat is a delicious festive treat across the Gulf region. Served mostly in the month of Ramadan, this finger-licking recipe is a breeze to make.

Ingredients:

For Dough

• 1 cup - Lukewarm water
• 2 cups - All purpose flour
• 1 tbsp - Instant dry yeast
• 1 - Egg
• 1 tbsp - Sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 1 cup - Sunflower oil, for frying
• 1¼ cup - Extra oil, to dip a teaspoon when dropping dough balls into hot oil

For Syrup

• 2 cups - Sugar
• 2 cups - Water
• 1 tbsp - Lemon juice

How to make Luqaimat:

1. Start with making the syrup. Mix sugar and water in a pot and bring it to boil.
2. Let it boil for about 15 minutes until it gets a little sticky and add lemon juice and boil for a further five minutes. Let it cool.
3. Mix lukewarm water, sugar and yeast in a cup.
4. Shift flour in a large bowl.
5. Pour yeast mixture in it and mix with an electric mixer.
6. Add egg and salt and mix. You will get a soft and sticky batter, a little thicker than a regular cake batter.
7. Cover the bowl and wait about an hour until it doubles in size.
8. Heat oil in a deep pot until boiling point.
9. Take some dough in your hand and squeeze it so that you see a small amount between your thumb and forefinger.
10. Dip a teaspoon into a little oil and use it to drop that rounded bit of dough into boiling oil.
11. Fry it until golden for about a minute.
12. Repeat the same steps until you finish the dough.
13. Transfer fried dough balls immediately into cold syrup and leave them in it as long as you want. The longer the sweeter.
14. Take them from syrup when they absorb enough of it and serve warm.