If you have visited Greece and wandered around its cities or villages, you may have noticed some shops that sell almost exclusively deep-fried dumplings, served traditionally with honey and crushed walnuts and cinnamon atop.

Those are the called Loukoumádes and are everybody’s favourite sweet treat in Greece. It is hard to find a Greek that will turn down an opportunity to taste them. Even one will find its way to a full stomach!

The origin of “Loukoumádes”

Its current name derives from the Arabian word lokma, which means a bite. In ancient Greece though they were called “keràsmata apo meli” which could be liberally translated as honey treats and they were round in shape.

They were offered at the Olympic athletes that were crowned winners and there are references of their existence at many Greek tragedies. Rumour has it that the recipe for Loukoumádes is the oldest written pastry recipe in the world! To support their historical value, it is worth noting that they were offered at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

Loukoumádes are for every occasion

Nowadays, you can have them for breakfast, as a dessert or have them accompany your afternoon coffee like the Greeks do. In fact, many hotels that serve the original Greek Breakfast include them in their menus.

The Greek Breakfast is a program launched by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels that promotes the regional products of Greece and diet to the guests of the participating hotels that adhere to its specifications. Look it up before you book your stay, if you are looking for a more authentic experience to begin your day.

The ingredients of the famous Greek chef Akis Petretzikis

In case you do not want to wait to visit Greece to taste them, I am copying the recipe of the very well-known Greek chef Akis Petretzikis which I use and find easy to cook.

Ingredients for 4 servings.

For the Syrup

• 250 ml water
• 200 gr granulated sugar
• 1 slice of lemon
• 1 tablespoon of honey

For the Loukoumades

• 280 ml water, at room temperature
• 9 g yeast
• 1 tablespoon(s) honey
• 1 pinch salt
• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g corn starch
• sunflower oil, for frying

To serve

• sesame seeds
• cinnamon
• honey

How to make Loukoumádes

Once you gather all the ingredients, follow this method proposed by Akis Petretzikis.

• We’ll begin by making our syrup since it has to be completely cool when we add it to our dumplings. In a pot, add the sugar, water, lemon and honey and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and transfer to another container so it can cool faster.
• In a shallow bowl, add all of the ingredients for the dumplings, apart from the olive oil. Mix with a whisk until it becomes a thick porridge-like mixture. Be careful that the water is hot, but at body temperature.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm and dry environment.
• Pour the oil into a pot to medium heat enough to be ready for frying. If you have a thermometer, it should read 160* C (320* F).
• Prepare these 2 things to have close to you for frying. A glass of water with a teaspoon in it and a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the extra oil from the fried dumplings.
• To make the dumplings extra crunchy, we are going to fry them twice!
• When the oil is hot enough, place your hand in the bowl with the mixture. Grab hold of some of the mixture in your palm and start to close your hand. The dough will start to be squeezed out from between your thumb and index finger. Holding the teaspoon in your other hand, scoop up the dough that has emerged and drop it into the hot oil.
• This is why we have to keep the spoon wet, so that the dough will not stick to it and fall easily into the oil. Dip the spoon into the glass of water next to you after each scoop.
• Repeat process until there are enough dumplings in the oil but do not overcrowd the pan. Use a slotted spoon to turn them over so they can cook on the other side too.
• Fry the dumplings for a few minutes until they turn a lovely golden. Remove from pan and set onto plate lined with paper towels. Repeat process with the remaining dough.
• Let them strain on the plate for a few minutes. Then heat the oil again and fry them one more time in hot oil until they turn golden brown and very crispy.
• Remove from pan and drop them in the cooled syrup. They will soak up as much syrup as they need.
• Sprinkle with ground cinnamon and toasted sesame seeds!

A tip, is that if you are willing to try new tastes, go for some chocolate spread on top of them instead of honey. Or maybe ice cream! If you are more into salty treats, have them with some feta on top of honey. Mouth-watering in any way.

Enjoy!

At this link you can find the original recipe: Greek honey dumplings Recipe | Akis Petretzikis

Taxia Kampouri

Mi chiamo Taxia e sono greca. Mi piace condividere le bellezze e le tradizioni della mia nazione per farti scoprire “l’altra Grecia”.