Lokma

Lokma is a Turkish deep-fried dough dessert, made from a soft, yeasted batter of flour, sugar, salt and a little water, dropped by the spoonful into hot oil and fried until puffy and golden. While still hot the rounds are tipped straight into a wide bowl of cold sugar syrup flavoured with lemon, sometimes sharpened with a few drops of rosewater or a stick of cinnamon, and left to soak briefly so the syrup reaches the centre without making the crust soggy. The result is a sphere that is crisp on the outside, light and pillowy in the middle, and very sweet. There is also a doughnut-shaped İzmir variant, made with a hole in the centre, and a "palace lokma" (saray lokması) that is rolled in icing sugar.

It is best known in Turkey as a charitable and ritual sweet: traditionally, on the fortieth day after a death, the family of the deceased cooks a great cauldron of lokma and gives it away to neighbours, the local school and passers-by in the street, in the form of small paper plates. Today it is also sold from carts and lokma shops around the Galata Bridge and the Eminönü waterfront in Istanbul, at the Kemeraltı bazaar in İzmir, around Kızılay in Ankara, and at the small pastry shops of Çengelköy, Bursa, Gaziantep and the Hatay. It is eaten in a single bite, very fresh, and is usually accompanied by a glass of water, tea or a strong Turkish coffee.