LOOQEMAT (Saudi Arabia)

INGREDIENTS:

• Half a cup of Greek yogurt
• 1 cup and a half of all purpose wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons of fresh yeast
• Half teaspoon sugar
• Half a glass of warm water
• Extra virgin olive oil *
• A pinch of salt

* The Saudis seldom use olive oil. They usually use sesame oil, sunflower or other vegetable oils. The vegetable oil has good properties but they are worse behaving with high temperatures like the ones reached in the frying. For this reason I use olive oil. To prevent the delicate flavor is clouded by the olive oil is necessary to set the fritters on absorbent paper to remove excess oil.

In a bowl, mix the yogurt, the white flour, salt and half the water and mix vigorously. This dough should stand for about 5 or 6 hours in one place at room temperature without much light (cover the bowl with a cotton cloth).
Separately mix the yeast with sugar and the rest of the water and left to ferment (again in dark place at room temperature). When this happens mix the yogurt with the sugar, beat with strength and let stand for three hours.
Now just fill a saucepan or skillet with two or three fingers of olive oil and heat until almost smoke. We will make balls 1 inch diammeter and fry in a way that they are covered with bubbling oil (a heavy frying). When golden we remove from oil and put in a gilded paper to absorb excess oil. You should eat warm. If have done looqemat well and the quality of the flour is good the taste will be fine yoghurt. Otherwise it looqemat will have terrible taste to flour. Whatever the outcome, can conceal some imperfections when you bath the looqemat in syrup.

For the syrup you will need:

• 1 cup sugar
• Half a cup of water
• 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
• Juice of half lemon

The orange blossom water can be done simply boiling orange blossom in water, although you may acquire it also in specialized shops. The water rose is also good for this recipe.
Put the water in a saucepan with the sugar and medium heat until it boils. Let boil for 10 minutes, stirring the foam as it appears. Add lemon juice and leave to simmer for another ten minutes. At the end you add the orange blossom water. It is important to cover the pan because if the water evaporates the mix will become caramel, not syrup as we want. With this warm syrup bathe the looqemat and if there's some residue of flour taste it disappears.