You spread out beneath my eyes,
A land of dunes ━ ocher, bright.
The wind in search of water stopped,
A land of heartbeats and fountains.
Vast as the night you fit
In the hollow of my hand. – Octavio Paz
When this post goes live I’ll be sitting on the beach under palm trees and drinking fresh coconut water. It’s only T-11 hrs before our plane takes off to Mauritius. I only booked our hotel yesterday, I still haven’t started packing and I don’t know anything about this beautiful island. Long story short, I’m not the best when it comes to early planning. It’s not that I’m bad at it, I just don’t care enough. I still have 6 hours on the flight to go through our travel guide to pick some highlights. I also prefer to ask local people what they recommend once I arrive. Sometimes I do make a list on my Google Maps app with places to eat.
I generally think that this is the best way to get to know a city or place because it will take you to different corners and show you parts off the beaten track. If you follow me on Instagram or have read previous posts on my blog, you probably know that I have a different approach to travel. Where most people are eager to explore historic sites, I want to get to know today’s culture and times and food is a great channel to do that. It’s also very delicious and a guarantee that you don’t lose weight on your vacation.
But even here in Dubai, I feel like I’ve come to know this city very well because of all the great food I ate. I’ve got to know amazing cafes, restaurants, and shops that define Dubai’s culture and vibe. It’s also become an endless source of inspiration for my blog. I mentioned before that I had difficulties finding Emirati recipes and here I am again with a traditionally vegan dish, Sweet Dumplings with Syrup. Commonly, it’s served with date syrup but I decided to opt for a coffee syrup because it’s that time of the year again that Nate of the Terminatetor Kitchen is hosting a #VirtualCoffeeParty. I’m quite excited to participate along with some other very talented photographers and bloggers from all over the world.
Check out their coffee-inspired recipes, too:
Alexcrumb • Vegan chocolate meringue pie
Ananás e Hortelã • Strawberry Rolls with White Chocolate Glaze
Cloudy Kitchen • Tiramisu Sheet Cake
DisplacedHousewife • Banana Espresso Cake with Espresso Bean Buttercream
Feed The Swimmers • Fudgy Espresso Sweet Potato and Black Bean Brownies with Hazelnuts and a Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting
Flor de Cerejeira • Mocha Orange Entremet
Flour Covered Apron • Espresso Banana Muffins with Chocolate Espresso Glaze
From Scratch Mostly • Argentinian Dulce de Leche Churros, Dipped in Coffee Chocolate Sauce
Harvest & Honey • Mocha-Braised Pork & Polenta Bowls
HonestlyYUM • Cafe Con Tres Leches Cake
Love Olive • Breakfast Almond Pancakes with Coffee Syrup
Milk of Thy Kindness • Best and Easy Coffee & Avocado Indo Style
Stems & Forks • Espresso Cinnamon Buns
TermiNatetor Kitchen • Blueberry Creme Fraiche Coffee Cake
The Almond Eater • Mocha Tahini Fudge
The Cinnaman • espresso ricotta cheesecake with emirati date crumb (batheeth)
The Korean Vegan • Vegan Tiramisu
Emirati Sweet Dumplings With Coffee Syrup (Luqaimat)
- 120 ml / ½ cup strong coffee
- 115 g / ½ cup coconut sugar
- 125 g / 1 cup organic white cake flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp dry yeast
- 1 tsp coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- pinch of saffron
- 177 ml / ¾ cup warm water
- 2-3 cups oil for frying (I used grapeseed oil)
- *optional: pistachios or white/black sesame seeds
- Make the coffee syrup by combining coffee and coconut sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to boil and stir constantly. Lower heat to medium and simmer for 3 minutes. Set aside and let cool. Transfer to a small glass bottle for easier pouring.
- Add sugar and yeast to a small bowl, cover with warm water and set aside for 5 min or until you see small bubbles on the surface which means that the yeast is activated.
- Into a large bowl, sift flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Add saffron and cardamom and mix well.
- Gradually add the water-yeast mixture and keep stirring until the dough has a good (quite soft/runny) consistency. Cover with a wet kitchen towel and let it rise for 30-60 min.
- Heat up the oil to 170 - 190°C / 335 - 375°F. Dip two teaspoons in separate cold oil, then take a heaped teaspoon of the batter and use the second teaspoon to quickly push the batter into the hot oil. Clean both teaspoons regularly and keep going until all batter is gone.
- When dumplings are brown, remove with a fork or spatula and place it on a kitchen paper.
- Sprinkle with pistachios, black or white sesame seeds and drizzle with a good heaping of coffee syrup.
Recipe adapted from Munaty Cooking “Crunchy Sweet Dumplings”. For Luqaimat Frying Techniques watch this video.