Lokma is another traditional Turkish dessert, but the good news is that it’s not as challenging to make as baklava. It’s one of the easiest dessert with some very simple ingredients.
It’s nothing more than fried sweet dough, but I must warn you that it’s addictive! Since these are bite size, you might not realize how many you eat, these taste so darn good! If you are interested in desserts like this, go check out our best Turkish desserts too!
Lokma is traditionally made in big amounts and served to large group of people at special occasions like weddings, openings of workplaces, even at funeral ceremonies. It is a common treat especially in the west part of the country and there are special companies in this area making lokma for such occasions. They take big cauldrons to the place they are invited and make lokma right there. It’s not surprising to see people in long queues in front of these cauldrons since lokma is the best when hot.
Besides being a traditional treat at special occasions, lokma has also become one of the best summer treats you might encounter on the beach. I find it weird but we love to eat this hot served lokma even under sun in summer. You start to feel a sudden craving for it right after you stop swimming or when lying on the beach. I still question why it’s not served with ice cream, would definitely be a better option that way in such a boiling weather. Most people wouldn’t agree with me on this, they love it plain and the only additions on lokma you might see are grated coconut or pistachio powder sprinkled over it.
A good lokma is crispy and golden outside and soft and light golden inside. You should hear the noise of crispiness when you bite it. Also, it should be juicy inside, but not doughy. You should keep the following two tips to achieve this. First, the dough shouldn’t be too thick or too runny. It’s a little thicker than a regular cake batter. The next tip is about the frying oil, make sure it’s hot enough before dropping the dough balls into it.
More Turkish Desserts
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Turkish Lokma
Fried sweet dough soaked in cold syrup.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 30 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp instant dry yeast
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 1 cup sunflower oil, for frying
- ¼ cup extra oil, to dip a teaspoon when dropping dough balls into hot oil
Syrup:
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Start with making the syrup.
- Mix sugar and water in a pot and bring it to boil.
- Let it boil for about 15 minutes until it gets a little sticky.
- Add lemon juice and boil for a further 5 minutes.
- Let it cold.
- Mix lukewarm water, sugar and yeast in a cup.
- Sift flour in a large bowl.
- Pour yeast mixture in it and mix with an electric mixer.
- Add egg and salt and mix. You will get a soft and sticky batter, a little thicker than a regular cake batter.
- Cover the bowl and wait about an hour until it doubles in size.
- Heat oil in a deep pot until boiling point.
- Take some dough in your hand and squeeze it so that you see a small amount between your thumb and forefinger.
- Dip a teaspoon into a little oil and use it to drop that rounded bit of dough into boiling oil.
- Fry it until golden for about a minute.
- Repeat the same steps until you finish the dough.
- Transfer fried dough balls immediately into cold syrup and leave them in it as long as you want. The longer the sweeter.
- Take them from syrup when they absorb enough of it and serve warm.
Notes
Note: This is the traditional way of making lokma. If it sounds messy and hard, you can just take dough pieces with a teaspoon and drop it into oil. It's still necessary to dip it into oil before taking the dough.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 168
- Sugar: 13.8 g
- Sodium: 81.3 mg
- Fat: 9.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 20.3 g
- Protein: 1.2 g
- Cholesterol: 6.2 mg
Keywords: lokma, lokma dessert, Turkish lokma
Ananthi says
Wow.. thanks for the recipe.. i was searching for this wonderful recipe.. After watching the series magnificent century.. IAM glad that i found here.. will try it for sure!! Hope hurrem sultan likes my lokma too,❤️❤️😀
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Ananthi,
Happy to hear this. Let us know what you think when you try it!
Afnan says
Mmmhh i love lokma. It is also a Somali treat we call it burka macan.
Neena says
Hi, please help. What is your cup measurements for the flour in grams. There's quite a few different values. Our 1cup is equal to 100g.
Looking forward to try this recipe.
Thank you
Yusuf says
The cup we use is 250ml.
Emma says
Can it be any type of oil to fry, because sunflower oil here, is very hard to find and it's also expensive
Yusuf says
Any oil that you use for frying can work.
Himalayan Chef says
Ice cream (mentioned in post) would be fine. Here in Nepal we often serve these (known as lal mohan in South Asia) with plain yoghurt. Fantastic combo. Give it a try.
★★★★★
Zerrin says
Oh never tried it with yogurt. Sounds like a brilliant idea! Didn't even know that this dessert is made in another place of the world. Thanks for sharing.
lina says
amazing recipe! turned out very yummy! thank you for the recipe:)
★★★★★
Zerrin says
Hi Lina! Glad you loved it!
Cheers!
naeeme says
Hello
Great recipes!
Please insert more pictures from the cooking process as well.
Thanks
Joy @MyTravelingJoys says
Oh, I love lokma! Waiting in line at Cunda Adasi or on Buyukada - brings back special vacation memories! Thanks for sharing!