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Luqmat Al-Qadi (Crispy Egyptian Zalabia with Syrup)

servings: 6 · 20 min · Collection: archive · Licence: CC BY 4.0

Double-frying is Dr. Fatma's infallible technique: fry once until pale blonde, rest, then fry a second time before dropping into cold rosewater syrup for a shatteringly crisp exterior and pillowy center.

Document (JSON) Original page on fifi.cooking

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Ingredients

  • All-purpose white flour2 cups white flour
  • Cornstarch (Nesha)2 tablespoons for signature crunch
  • Instant dry yeast & sugar1 tsp yeast + 1 tsp sugar
  • Warm water1.5 cups warm water
  • Pinch of salt & vanillaPinch of salt and pure vanilla
  • Heavy cold sugar syrup with rosewater2.5 cups sugar, 1 cup water, lemon, rosewater
  • Oil for deep fryingAmple oil for deep frying

Allergens (inferred from ingredient names): cereals_gluten

Nutrition per serving (modelled estimate, not measured): kcal 420, protein 4, fat 12, carbs 76, fiber 1, sugar 42

Original steps

  1. Whisk flour, cornstarch, yeast, sugar, salt, and warm water together until you have a smooth, sticky, elastic batter.
  2. Cover bowl and let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour until doubled and bubbly. Deflate gently before frying.
  3. Squeeze batter through your closed fist and cut small round balls with an oiled teaspoon, dropping them directly into medium-hot oil.
  4. Fry dumplings halfway until pale blonde. Remove and drain. Just before serving, fry a second time in hot oil until deeply golden and shatteringly crisp.
  5. Lift hot crispy dumplings straight from oil and plunge into heavy cold sugar syrup for 1 minute.
  6. Drain and serve piled high on a platter, or dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

This is a V0 document: the original ingredients and steps from fifi.cooking, with quantities parsed from the text where possible. No step has been classified, measured or verified, so a device assigns every step to a person and refuses to cook it alone (RFC-0009). It becomes V1 when a reviewed process graph replaces the steps.

Source: Dr. Fatma Alkawokgy family archive, fifi.cooking. Family recipe archive of Dr. Fatma Alkawokgy (1943-2026), chapters 1 to 6, published at fifi.cooking