• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • Press
  • Browse Categories
  • Work With Us
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Give Recipe logo

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Browse Categories
  • Turkish
  • Desserts
  • About
  • Start Here
×

Home » Desserts » Tulumba Tatlisi Recipe

Published: Apr 16, 2021 by Zerrin & Yusuf

Tulumba Tatlisi Recipe

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Turkish Tulumba Dessert (Tulumba Tatlisi) is made of a special type of dough fried and then soaked in sweet lemony syrup. Crunchy on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside.

Turkish Dessert Tulumba | www.giverecipe.com

Love Turkish desserts with a lemony syrup? We have a lot of these in Turkish cuisine. And you can find several of them on the blog. Turkish baklava (easy way) is our all time favorite but we do LOVE tel kadayif and künefe dessert as well.

Jump to:
  • What Is Tulumba?
  • Ingredients
  • Instructions
  • Tips and Tricks
  • More Turkish Desserts
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Comments

What Is Tulumba?

Tulumba Tatlisi is a Turkish dessert which is one of the most eaten sweets in Turkey. It is like the couisin of halka tatlisi. Its dough is first cooked in a pan and then squeezed into oil through a piping bag with a star nozzle. Then these golden fried dough pieces are soaked in a lemony syrup.

Tulumba is one of the cheapest desserts in Turkey, so everyone can buy it at any time. When people have occasions like weddings or islamic memorial ceremonies aka mevlit, they prefer to serve tulumba to their large group of guests.

It is generally served on a plastic plate with some toothpicks so that you can eat the dessert with them. This is of course something for large occasions. We definitely have it with a fork or we just enjoy it with our fingers when we have it at home!

Ingredients

We have two types of ingredients in this tulumba dessert.

Flour, sugar, semolina, eggs, oil, pistachios, butter, lemon, cornstarch photographed on a light background.
Tulumba ingredients

For the syrup, we need sugar, water and lemon juice. For the dough, we need water, butter, flour, eggs, semolina and cornstarch. Plus we need oil for frying.

Instructions

The recipe has 5 folds.

Lemon syrup with a lemon wedge in a pan.
Making lemon syrup

First, make the syrup. Put sugar, water and lemon juice in a pot and bring it to boil. Let it simmer for 10 minutes, remove from heat and let it cool.

Butter and water in a pan.
Butter and water

Second, make the dough. To do this, put water and butter in a pot.

Butter melted in hot water in a pan.
Butter melted in water

Heat it until the butter melts, stirring occasionally.

Flour, melted butter and water in a pan with a wooden spoon inside it.
Making tulumba dough in a pan

Gradually add in the flour when the water boils and butter melts.

Tulumba dough in a pan with a wooden spoon inside.
Making tulumba dough

Mix fast well with a wooden spoon as we do when making flour halvah until you have a non-sticky dough, about 10 minutes over low heat.

Tulumba dessert dough topped with cornstarch in a glass mixing bowl.
Dough topped with cornstarch

Transfer the dough into a mixing bowl and let it cool completely and add in semolina and cornstarch.

Eggs added in the tulumba batter in a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon inside it.
Adding eggs to the dough

Next, add in the eggs. Break one egg each time and mix either with a spoon or your hands until you have a creamy dough. Transfer it into a piping bag with a star nozzle.

A hand cutting the squeezed batter from a piping bag
Squeezing dough in oil

Then, fill a frying pan with oil. And squeeze the dough into cold oil using an oiled scissors. Put the pot over medium heat and cook the tulumba dough pieces until they double in size. The slower they are fried, the crunchier they get.

Golden fried tulumba dessert pieces in syrup.
Fried tulumbas in syrup

Finally, transfer the fried tulumbas into cold syrup and let them absorb the syrup for 2 minutes. Then transfer them on a plate or bowl using a slotted spoon.

Before frying the rest of dough, let the frying oil cool and repeat the same steps.

#Turkish #Dessert Tulumba | www.giverecipe.com
Tulumba served with Turkish tea

Tips and Tricks

  • Make sure the dough you cook in the pan cools down completely before adding in the eggs. Otherwise, the eggs will be almost cooked.
  • Use scissors to cut the batter you squeeze from the piping bag. Dip the knives of the scissors into oil so that they don't stick to the batter when cutting.
  • The oil should be cold when you squeeze the batter into it. Never use hot oil! After squeezing the batter, put the frying pan over medium heat. Cook until the pieces double in size and get a nice golden color.
  • When you finish with the first batch, turn the heat off and let the oil cool completely. Only then start with the second batch.

More Turkish Desserts

  • Irmik Helvasi
  • Semolina Cake
  • Sekerpare
  • Lokma Dessert

As always: If you make this recipe, let us know what you think by rating it and leaving a comment below. And post a pic on Instagram too—tag @give_recipe so we can see!

Sign up for the FREE GiveRecipe Newsletter to get the new recipes into your inbox! And stay in touch with us on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram for all the latest updates.

Print

📖 Recipe

Tulumba Tatlisi Recipe

Tulumba dessert soaked in syrup.
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

Turkish Dessert Tulumba is a simple yet tasty dessert!

  • Author: Zerrin & Yusuf
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 50 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Frying
  • Cuisine: Turkish

Ingredients

Scale

Syrup:

  • 3 ½ cup sugar
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Dough:

  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 and ½ cup flour
  • 2 tbsp semolina
  • 1 tbsp starch
  • 3 eggs
  • Oil to deep fry

Instructions

  1. Start preparing its syrup. Put water and sugar in a pot and bring it to a boil. Add in lemon juice and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Let it cool completely.
  2. Meanwhile start preparing the dough. Put water and butter in a pot. Heat it over medium heat until the butter melts, stirring occasionally.
  3. When it boils, slowly add in flour. Stir it fast with a wooden spoon until you have a nonsticky dough about 10 minutes over low heat.
  4. Take the pot from heat, transfer the dough into a mixing bowl and let it cool down.
  5. When it is cool enough, add in semolina and cornstarch.
  6. Then break eggs into it one by one and mix either with a spoon or with your hands until you get a creamy batter. 
  7. Fill a frying pan with oil.
  8. Fill the batter into a piping bag with a star nozzle.
  9. Squeeze dough pieces into cold oil.
  10. Put the pan over medium heat and fry the dough pieces until they double in size.
  11. When they are golden fried, remove with a slotted spoon and transfer them into cold syrup.
  12. Let them sit in  the syrup for 1-2 minutes and transfer in a large bowl.
  13. Before frying the rest of dough, let the frying oil cold and repeat the same steps.
  14. Serve warm or cold topped with crumbled pistachios.

Notes

  • Make sure the dough you cook in the pan cools down completely before adding in the eggs. Otherwise, the eggs will be almost cooked.
  • Use scissors to cut the batter you squeeze from the piping bag. Dip the knives of the scissors into oil so that they don't stick to the batter when cutting.
  • The oil should be cold when you squeeze the batter into it. Never use hot oil! After squeezing the batter, put the frying pan over medium heat. Cook until the pieces double in size and get a nice golden color.
  • When you finish with the first batch, turn the heat off and let the oil cool completely. Only then start with the second batch.

Nutrition

  • Calories: 38
  • Sugar: 4g
  • Sodium: 5.4mg
  • Fat: 1.1g
  • Carbohydrates: 6.4g
  • Protein: 0.7g
  • Cholesterol: 12.4mg

Keywords: tulumba recipe, tulumba dessert

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @give_recipe on Instagram and hashtag it #giverecipe

You might also like:

  • Revani Recipe (Turkish Semolina Cake)
  • Turkish halva recipe made with flour
    Helva (Turkish Halva With Flour)
  • Semolina cookies soaked with sweet syrup on a ceramic plate accompanied by hazelnuts and spring flowers
    Sekerpare Recipe
  • Rice pudding with a golden top garnished with pistachios in a clay bowl.
    Sutlaç - Turkish Rice Pudding
« How To Make Fresh Homemade Yogurt
Turkish Chicken Kebab Recipe (Tavuk Şiş) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Christina says

    June 08, 2016 at 1:40 am

    I dont know how you sqeeze that dough out of a piping bag? I needed to ad 3 more eggs and water to even get it out...
    And the syrup is way too thin the cakes get soggy and i had to heat them in the oven to make them dry 😳

    Reply
  2. Johana Nash says

    April 19, 2015 at 9:00 pm

    Hi,
    I mixed the batter as said but the dough was watery is it 2 cups of water or 1.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  3. balannambiar says

    March 27, 2015 at 6:22 am

    Thank you for the awesome recipe..only I worried when oil is cold..it absorbed in the food we are frying..in any deep frying method using oil..why not just "crust" with medium heat and do all the way slow frying...if we want double the size for crunch the Tulumba why not add in some baking powder..baking powder well in acidic egg mixture. Why we using semolina flour?..to hold the doubling size when it is cold?..thank you again your marvelous recipe..

    Reply
  4. Kieron O'Connell says

    November 03, 2014 at 2:02 am

    To the moderator. Sorry, my mistake the recipe asked for 2 ½ cups of flour not 3 ½. My mistake. The quantity of syrup was still too much. Also note that when the mixture is placed in cold oil it sinks to the bottom and sticks, it is difficult to scrape sore dough off of the bottom without causing a sticky mess. It doesn't float until the oil heats. I would like to hear from people that have also had this problem and how to overcome it.

    Reply
  5. Kieron O'Connell says

    November 03, 2014 at 1:51 am

    I tried this recipe and it is totally WRONG. You cannot mix 3 ½ cups of flour into 2 cups of water and beat briskly, you end up with a big gooey clump of dough after just one cup of flour that you would never be able to beat briskly. Also the quantities prescribed for the syrup is twice as much as you would ever need and when I was finished I tipped most of it down the drain and was a total waste. Increase the quantity of water for the dough to 3 ½ to 4 cups. Halve all the quantities for the syrup.

    Reply
  6. Kim says

    August 14, 2013 at 1:51 am

    Hi there,
    I have just come across this fantastic sounding recipe and I can almost taste them and would like to make them, a couple of questions first.
    1) What type of flour, plain or SR?
    2) What type of oil for frying?
    #) And finally, appox how many will this recipe make?

    Thank you for you time and for sharing
    Kim
    🙂

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      August 14, 2013 at 12:09 pm

      Hi Kim, use plain flour for this recipe. And corn oil or sunflower oil work fine for frying these.Well, I got the recipe from a tulumba dessert store , so I'm not sure about the amount. I can just guess that it makes more than 50 since these tulumbas are small.

      Reply
      • Kim says

        August 14, 2013 at 3:56 pm

        WOW!! 50 fantastic.
        Thank you

      • Maria says

        October 01, 2016 at 6:49 am

        Hello,

        I wanted to make sure that it is 2 1/2 cups of FLOUR and 2 cups of WATER? Because if this is accurate, there is no way to mix it fast and for 10 minutes. It becomes so stiff right away? I have tried this recipe and they are delicious.

        Thank you!

  7. Arlette says

    July 15, 2013 at 5:30 am

    Hello Zerrin,
    lovely dessert and beautiful photo.
    I have a question about the frying method, don't you think if the dough is fried in semi hot oil it will soak too much oil and turn heavy instead of being soft and fluffy.. maybe he meant on low heat so the inside will cook at the same time with the outside before you turn the heat up.
    Arlette

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      July 15, 2013 at 12:16 pm

      Hi Arlette, it's important that the oil must be cold when you squeeze dough pieces into it. Then turn on the stove, both the oil and tulumbas inside it start to heat at the same time this way. And fry them over medium-low heat. This makes it crunchy outside and soft inside.

      Reply
  8. rojeen says

    July 15, 2013 at 2:36 am

    I made this today using this recipe and it tasted like eggs. i love these, they have them in my home in kurdistan but this had too much of an egg taste to me.

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      July 15, 2013 at 11:10 am

      That's interesting. Could it be because they are not combined well? Maybe the eggs you used are larger, then you can use 2 eggs instead.

      Reply
  9. Faye Levy says

    July 15, 2013 at 1:16 am

    Interesting that you add semolina at the end. Does it help make it crunchy? Also what kind of starch do you use?

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      July 15, 2013 at 11:02 am

      Hi Faye, semolina cooks faster than flour and adding starch and semolina later helps the dessert get puffy. You can use either wheat or corn starch, both work fine!

      Reply
  10. Nisha says

    April 16, 2013 at 10:04 am

    Saw your beautiful pictures on Pinterest and arrived here on your blog for the first time today.
    I'm wondering how you achieved the yellow color - was it because of the eggs?

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      April 16, 2013 at 11:29 am

      Hi Nisha, thanks for visiting! The yellow color comes from deep frying. When dough is fried, it gets that yellow:)

      Reply
  11. Stacy says

    March 12, 2013 at 11:36 pm

    Gorgeous, gorgeous photos! I'll be bookmarking your blog! 🙂

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      March 12, 2013 at 11:46 pm

      Thank you Stacy! You have fantastic recipes on your blog too! Your panda cookies definitely rock!

      Reply
  12. Gera @ Sweets Foods Blog says

    March 10, 2013 at 5:13 am

    Zerrin this dessert Tulumba sounds very tempting. I need to try one when I can.

    The aspect is similar to churros from here (filled them with chocolate or dulce de leche)….. those pics make me hungry for something sweet and soon!

    Bizarre the frying method, at least for me 🙂

    All the best,

    Gera

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      March 10, 2013 at 5:34 pm

      Hi Gera! How are you doing? Nice to see you here again! I've heard churros before but didn't know what kind of a food it is, thanks for informing. Our tulumba is like the plain version of churros, can't imagine these are filled with chocolate! Sounds heavenly!

      Reply
  13. lisaiscooking says

    March 08, 2013 at 4:55 pm

    I want to taste this lovely dessert! The syrup coating sounds delicious.

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      March 08, 2013 at 8:22 pm

      Hi Lisa! Nice to see you here again! This dessert is definitely addictive! I love the crunchy sound it makes when you bite it!

      Reply
  14. Reeni says

    March 08, 2013 at 4:43 am

    The way you describe them makes them sound so delicious Zerrin! Plus your pictures are stunning! I never saw this method for frying before - it's very different.

    Reply
    • Zerrin says

      March 08, 2013 at 8:25 pm

      That frying method was new to me too! I was surprised when the man in tulumba shop told me to start to fry them in cold oil. Then he explained that it is the most important tip for making tulumba dessert right way.

      Reply
  15. Rosa says

    March 06, 2013 at 10:26 pm

    Thanks for the recipe! This is a treat I adore.

    Your tulumba look perfect and extremely tempting.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
Newer Comments »

Primary Sidebar

Zerrin & Yusuf

Meet Zerrin and Yusuf Gunaydin: The couple behind this blog. We bring Turkish food into your kitchen! From kebabs to desserts, everything you crave is here.

More about us→

POPULAR

  • Cooked artichokes on a dark blue plate, a lemon slice and mint leaves on the side.
    How To Eat An Artichoke
  • Colorful veggie kabobs on a white plate accompanied by a blue napkin and hummus on the side.
    Veggie Kabobs In Oven
  • A jar of pickled red cabbage on a dark background, herbs and garlic cloves on the side.
    Quick Pickled Cabbage Recipe (Red & White)
  • Homemade lemon jam in a jar accompanied by flowers
    Homemade Lemon Jam
  • Grilled cheese sandwiches garnished with thyme and basil leaves behind them.
    Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwich
  • Crepes served with fresh berries in an oval plate. Powdered sugar and mint leaves accompany.
    Almond Milk Crepes

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest

All content, recipes and photographs are copyrighted and the property of Give Recipe. They may not be republished in part or whole without proper credit and permission.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 GIVE RECIPE

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Privacy PolicyACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT