Lokma, also known by their Greek name, loukoumades, are

pastries Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggest ...

made of

leavened Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made ...

and

deep fried Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow oil used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. Norma ...

dough balls, soaked in syrup or honey, sometimes coated with

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakf ...

or other ingredients. The dish was described as early as the 13th century by al-Baghdadi as ''luqmat al-qādi'' (), "judge's morsels".

Etymology

The

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

word () (plural ), means ''morsel'', ''mouthful'', or ''bite''. The dish was known as () or "judge's morsels" in 13th century Arabic cookery books, and the word ''luqma'' or ''loqma'' by itself has come to refer to it. The Turkish name for the dish, , is derived from the Arabic, as is the Greek name ().

History

Loukoumades Greek Doughnuts with Walnuts and Honey

The recipe for ''Luqmat al-Qadi'', yeast-leavened dough boiled in oil and doused in honey or sugar syrup with

rosewater Rose water ( fa, گلاب) is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. Rose water is also used to fla ...

, dates back to at least the early

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

period and the 13th-century

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttal ...

, where it is mentioned in several of the existent cookery books of the time. It is also mentioned in the ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

'', in the story ''The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad''. The explorer and scholar

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim ...

in the 14th century encountered the dish he knew as ''Luqaymat al-Qadi'' at a dinner in

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the ol ...

, during his travels in

medieval India Medieval India refers to a long period of Post-classical history of the Indian subcontinent between the "ancient period" and "modern period". It is usually regarded as running approximately from the breakup of the Gupta Empire in the 6th cen ...

, where his hosts called it ''al-Hashimi''. It was cooked by palace cooks in the Ottoman Empire for centuries and influenced by other countries cuisines of the former countries of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, Middle East, and the Caucasus.

Preparation

The thick and smooth yeast batter rises and has a very soft and foamy consistency. The batter is usually dropped into hot oil and fried to a golden brown color, but some are doughnut-shaped. Lokma are served with honey and, occasionally, cinnamon. Traditionally, the batter was leavened with yeast but modern variations sometimes use baking powder.

Regional varieties

Arab countries

Today, in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

it is called ''lokma'' or ''luqaymat'' and they differ both in size and taste across the country. While in Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, ''luqaymat'', sometimes spiced with cardamom or saffron, are little changed from the 13th-century recipes. In parts of the Middle East they may also be called () meaning "swimmer", or (), with numerous spelling variations, though the latter term may also refer to a similar dish made in a long spiral or straight baton shape. They are traditionally included in times of religious observances; for example in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

by Muslims at

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

, Jews at

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each nig ...

, and Christians at Epiphany alike.

Cyprus

The pastry is called () and () in

Cypriot Greek Cypriot Greek ( el, κυπριακή ελληνική or ) is the variety of Modern Greek that is spoken by the majority of the Cypriot populace and Greek Cypriot diaspora. It is considered a divergent dialect as it differs from Standard Mode ...

. They are commonly served spiced with cinnamon in a honey syrup and can be sprinkled lightly with powdered sugar.

Greece

The dish called () is a mainstay of Greek cooking, in particular in the south of Greece, and is a popular street food served with any combination of honey, cinnamon, walnuts and chocolate sauce. Its original name in ancient Greek literature is "honey tokens", and, according to

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...

, they were given as small gifts (charisioi) to the victors of the Olympic games. In

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

times the pastry was likely called spongoi or sfongoi from the ancient Greek word for sponge, [] or [] in Ionian dialect, which is also the origin of the Arabic (isfanj). This term was also used by the Romaniotes (History of the Jews in Greece, Greek Jews) as the name for loukoumades., who call them ''zvingoi'' (), and make them as

treats.

Pontic Greeks The Pontic Greeks ( pnt, Ρωμαίοι, Ρωμίοι, tr, Pontus Rumları or , el, Πόντιοι, or , , ka, პონტოელი ბერძნები, ), also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek group i ...

who migrated from the Black Sea as a result of the Lausanne Conference call them ''tsirichta'' ().''Tsirichta'' are served at Pontian weddings.

Turkey

There are different types of lokma in Turkey. Dessert lokma are made with flour, sugar, yeast and salt, fried in oil and later bathed in syrup or honey. In some regions of Turkey lokma are eaten with cheese, similar to breakfast

bagel A bagel ( yi, בײגל, translit=beygl; pl, bajgiel; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into a roughly hand-sized ring from yeasted wheat dough that is fi ...

s.Ayfer Tunç "Bir maniniz yoksa annemler size gelecek: 70'li Yıllarda Hayatımız" sf. 284, Yapı Kredi Yayınları (2001). ''İzmir lokması'' are doughnut shaped with a hole in the middle. The spherical one is called the Palace Lokma (Turkish: ''Saray lokması''). In the Güdül-Ayaş regions of

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, there is a type of lokma known as ''bırtlak''."Türkiyede Halk Ağzından Söz Derleme Dergisi" cilt. 1 sf. 201, Maarif Matbaası (1939). Traditionally, forty days after someone passes away, close relatives and friends of the deceased cook large quantities of lokma for neighbours and passersby. People form queues to get a plate and recite a prayer for the soul of the deceased after eating the lokma.