Lokma

Lokma (Turkish), loukoumades (Greek), loukmades (Cypriot) (Greek: λουκουμάδες, singular λουκουμάς, loukoumas), or luqmat al-qadi (Arabic: لقمة القاضي, Persian: بامیه bāmiyeh, see etymology below) are pastries made of deep fried dough soaked in syrup, chocolate sauce, or honey, with cinnamon and sometimes sprinkled with sesame.

Etymology

The Turkish word lokma means 'mouthful' or 'morsel', from Arabic لقمة luqma(t). A version called لقمة القاضي luqmat al-qādi (judge's mouthful) was described by al-Baghdadi in the 13th century and is made in Arab countries to this day.

Regional varieties

Turkey

Lokma is a traditional Turkish dessert made of flour, sugar, yeast and salt bathed with syrup or honey. Lokma was first cooked by the sultan's cooks at Ottoman Empire palaces, and for centuries, it was unknown how it was made. After the 20th century, it became a tradition for Turks to cook and serve lokmas to neighbours and passengers.

Greece

In Greece, loukoumades are commonly spiced with cinnamon in a honey syrup and can be sprinkled lightly with powdered sugar. Loukoumades are a traditional Greek dessert with roots in deep antiquity, although some disagreement exists over which historical Greek honey-cake is the ancestor of the modern loukoumas, whose present name is borrowed from Arabic via Turkish. The candidate most frequently mentioned as being prepared with hot oil is enkris, which is described below along with other postulated ancestral honey-cakes.