Luqaimat / Sweet Dumplings

As the blessed month of Ramadan is approaching, the theme chosen for this month's Muslim Food Blogger's Challenge is "Ramadan food from the Islamic world". I tried an Arabic dish known as Luqaimat for this challenge. Luqaimat / Fried sweet dumpling is a very famous Arabic dessert which is usually made in the month of Ramadan for Iftar. These fried dumplings are crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle and is dipped / coated with the sugar syrup or date syrup...
Ingredients:
For Batter:
2 1/2 cup plain flour
3 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp yeast
2- 2 1/4 cup warm milk
3 tbsp thick yoghurt
oil for frying
For Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
pinch of saffron
1 tbsp sesame seeds for sprinkling
Preparation:
- Mix together the milk, yoghurt and yeast in a small bowl.
- Add the plain flour, cornflour and salt in a large bowl and add in the milk mixture little by little and mix until you get a thick batter. The batter should not be too thick or watery.
- Keep this batter covered in a warm place for about an hour till it is doubled.
- In a saucepan, add sugar and water and bring to boil. Add saffron and cardamom powder and let it boil until the syrup slightly thickens. Allow it to cool completely.
- Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan/ kadai and drop little batter using a spoon or by hand and fry them until they turn golden on all sides.
- Remove from the oil and drain them onto paper towel..
- Place the dumplings in a serving plate and pour the prepared sugar syrup all over and garnish with sesame seeds and serve..
- You can also use date syrup instead of sugar syrup...