Sweet Qatar: Delicious Sweets and Their Recipes | All & About

There is no doubt that the Middle East has the most delectable, mouthwatering sweets in the world. These sweet platters are available abundantly all over Qatar, but you can also make these delicious desserts at home with our easy to follow recipes. Below are three recipes for all-time favorite Qatari sweets.

Luqaimat

You will need:

1 1/2teaspoon of sugar
1teaspoon of dry yeast
1/2teaspoon of saffron
1/2teaspoon of cardamom powder
2cups of multi-purpose flour
A pinch of salt
5 tablespoons of mashed potatoes
1 1/4 cup of warm water and
Oil

Preparation (25 servings)

Start by adding saffron and cardamom to 1/4 cup warm water. Put the mixture aside and move on to the flour.
Sift the flour with salt and leave it to rest.
Add sugar and dry yeast to the remaining 3/4^th of warm water and leave it for 5 minutes.
Bring back the sifted flour and add the mashed potato, saffron and cardamom mixture and stir.
While stirring, add the sugar yeast mixture until the batter resembles a normal cake batter.
Set aside the batter to rise and double in size for 30 to 40 minutes.
Then, heat the oil. After the oil is ready, take a half a tablespoon of batter and drop it into the oil. This can also be achieved with your fingers but for general consistency, it is advised to use a tablespoon.
Let it fry for a minute before moving them around to make sure they are fried evenly.
Take them out when they achieve a light golden color, and put them on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
Glaze with your favorite syrup and serve.

Esh Asaraya (8-10 servings)

You will need:

1 cup of sugar
1 1\2 cups of sugar syrup
250g of thick cream and
800g of sliced white bread
Pistachios and/or orange flowers
The sugar syrup needs to be prepared a day before and it is recommended that the bread be a day old.

Preparation

Start by preparing the sugar syrup

Bring 2 ½ cups of sugar and 1 ½ cups of water to heat. Increase the heat until it boils. NO STIRRING.
Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Reduce heat and let it thicken.
Add 1 teaspoon of rose water and orange blossom water each when still heating. Wait for a couple of minutes and set aside to cool
This syrup should be enough for three cups

Moving on to the rest of the preparation, cut the crust of the bread and only save the soft part of bread. Crumble the bread and toast it in an oven.
Prepare a pan with the sugar syrup. Crush the toasted crumbs and heat until the color becomes golden. Place in a bowl after removing from heat.
The next step is to make a caramel. Prepare another pan with a cup of sugar. Heat the sugar with a bit of water until the color is dark golden. NO STIRRING.
After the caramel is done, mix it with the bread until the bread is fully drenched and covered.
Spread it over a plate evenly and wait to cool. Then add the thick cream all over and garnish with pistachios/orange flowers.

Mehalabiya

You will need:

5 cups of milk
1/2 cup of ground rice
1/3 cup of sugar
30–45 ml of orange flower or rose water
45 ml of light honey
3/4 cup of mixed almonds and pistachios coarsely chopped

Preparation

Start by boiling the milk. In a bowl, mix the rice and 150ml water to make a paste.
Add the paste to the milk while stirring fast. Continue to stir and bring to boil.
After the milk-rice mixture thickens, add sugar, orange flower or rose water. Continue to stir.
Take the Mehalabiya off the heat and transfer to a dish. Let it cool.
While cooling, make a honey and 60-75 ml water solution and warm under low heat. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
Pour the solution over the Mehalabiya and garnish with mixed nuts

There you have it. Easy recipes you can recreate and enjoy with your loved ones.

Written by Bisrat Atalay Tasew

Sources:

https://www.munatycooking.com/sweet-dumplings-luqaimat/

https://silverdesserts.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/esh-asaraya-2/

http://lauraperenic.blogspot.com/2014/05/mehalabiya-recipe.html