Evyenia’s Loukoumades
When Evyenia’s first grandchild, Eugenia, was born, Evyenia wanted to introduce a special, traditional, celebratory recipe to her repertoire. Evyenia decided upon loukoumades. She quickly mastered this recipe and made it her staple offering at every special family occasion: birthdays, Name Days, Christmas, Easter and more. Over time, Evyenia not only mastered the recipe, she perfected it and her loukoumades came to be known as THE loukoumades by her family and friends. KO proudly presents Evyenia’s Loukoumades. We hope they become part of your family’s special celebrations too!
Ingredients
For the loukoumades
700 g flour self raising
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda heaped
1 teaspoon baking powder heaped
1/2 lemon
750 ml water tepid
canola oil for frying
For the dressing
2 cups walnuts crushed
cinnamon ground
honey
Preparation
Watch the full recipe video below. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the Subscribe link on the video
Prepare the batter
Sift and combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. Add the salt and the juice of half a lemon. Slowly add the water, while simultaneously folding in the flour with a whisk. Continue to gently whisk the batter until it has a smooth consistency. You know the batter is the right consistency when you take a handful of the batter, squeeze it through the opening created by your thumb and index finger when you clench your hand, and it forms a small ball that can readily be scooped up by a soupspoon.
Fry the loukoumades
Pour canola oil into a large, deep fry-pan to a depth of 10-12cm. Heat the oil over a medium-high flame. You know the oil is ready for frying when you drop batter into it and the batter immediately rises to the surface of the oil.
Once the oil is ready, take a soupspoon and dip it into hot water. Take a handful of the batter and immediately clench your hand to create an opening between your thumb and index finger. Squeeze the batter through this opening to create a ball of batter. Scoop the ball of batter onto the soupspoon, making sure the batter doesn’t reach the opposite edge of the spoon (this will make the transfer of the batter to the oil easier). Drop the batter from the spoon into the hot oil.
To prevent the batter sticking to the spoon, dip the spoon into the hot water between each scoop of batter (similar to scooping ice-cream). Repeat until the fry-pan has been filled to capacity.
Continuously stir the loukoumades with a strainer to make sure they brown evenly. If the loukoumades attach to each other, just tap them gently with the strainer and detach them.
Continue to fry the loukoumades until they have browned on both sides. This usually takes about 5-6 minutes.
When the loukoumades are golden brown, remove them and place them in a colander lined with absorbent paper to drain. Once they’ve drained, check if they are firm to the touch. If they are, transfer them to a platter to cool. If they are still soft, pop them back in the oil to fry up a little longer.
Continue until all the batter has been used.
Dress the loukoumades
You must allow the loukoumades to cool for an hour or so, before you can dress them. If they are too hot the honey will run off them and the cinnamon and nuts will not stick to them.
Sprinkle some of the walnuts onto the bottom of a large, shallow bowl. Add a layer of loukoumades. Drizzle honey over the loukoumades. Sprinkle walnuts and cinnamon on the loukoumades. Add another layer of loukoumades and dress them again with honey, walnuts and cinnamon. Continue until all of the loukoumades have been dressed.
For some extra sweetness, Evyenia suggested you add sugar to the cinnamon.
Serve the loukoumades
Serve and enjoy!
Recipe makes approximately 50 pieces
