Afelia
Marinated pork in red wine
Loukoumades are a popular dessert enjoyed all through Cyprus: small pastries of deep-fried dough, soaked in sugar syrup. They are not exclusively Cypriot — they are enjoyed all over Greece too.
In Cyprus the tradition is to serve loukoumades in the sugar syrup only, while in Greece it is common to garnish them with honey, cinnamon, crushed walnuts or sesame seeds. Here they are often sold at paniyiria — village festivals — and they are best eaten hot and fresh: crunchy outside, soft inside, deliciously sweet.
Cook the syrup first, because it has to be completely cool when it meets the fried loukoumades. In a pot, add the sugar, water, lemon and honey and bring to a boil.
Once boiled, remove from the heat and allow to cool. If you need the syrup to cool quickly, transfer it to another pot that isn’t hot.
In a bowl, add all the ingredients for the loukoumades batter, apart from the cooking oil. Mix with a whisk until it becomes a thick, porridge-like mixture. The water must be at room temperature.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the yeast rise in a warm, dry place. This takes approximately 45 minutes, or until the mixture has doubled in size.
Once the dough has risen it is ready for frying. Pour the oil into a pot over medium heat and let it heat up. To test it, drop in a pinch of dough and see if it starts to fry.
Keep two things close by: a glass of water with a teaspoon in it, and a plate lined with kitchen paper to soak up the extra oil.
To make the loukoumades extra crunchy, we fry them twice.
You can wear disposable gloves so your hands don’t get sticky. Once the oil is hot, take some batter in your palm and start to close your hand — the dough will be squeezed out between thumb and index finger. With the teaspoon in your other hand, scoop up the dough that emerges and drop it into the hot oil.
This is why the spoon must stay wet, so the dough will not stick and falls easily into the oil. Dip the spoon in the glass of water after each scoop.
Repeat until there are enough loukoumades in the oil, but do not overcrowd the pot — they need space to cook evenly. Use a slotted spoon to turn them over.
Fry for a few minutes until they develop a slightly pale cream-gold colour. The final golden brown comes with the second fry.
Remove from the pan onto the plate with paper towels, and repeat with the remaining dough.
Leave them to strain for a few minutes. Then heat the oil again and fry them a second time until golden brown and very crispy.
Remove from the pan and drop them into the cooled syrup. They will soak up as much syrup as they need.
To serve, sprinkle with honey, ground cinnamon and/or crushed walnuts, depending on how you like them.
Best eaten hot and fresh, straight from the syrup.