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This internationally known, decadent, and sugar-packed dessert is usually made with a mixture of flour, sugar, yeast, and salt, which is deep-fried and then bathed in syrup or honey. The origin of lokma fritters is ancient but often debated. It is presumed that they first appeared in Greece or Turkey, though some suggest Arabic origin.
The dish is considered to be one of the oldest recorded desserts in Greek history. It is said that the pastries were even given to winning Olympians as a treat and were called honey tokens. Loukoumades, or loukmades in Cyprus, can be found throughout the streets of Greece, in shops selling nothing else but this caloric dessert.
VARIATIONS OF Lokma
MOST ICONIC Lokma
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Turkish tulumba is a hot water dough fritter traditionally found in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, particularly throughout the Middle East and the Balkans. Even though tulumba (lit. pump) was named after a special tool used to make it—a kind of syringe with a star-shaped nozzle—in Iranian cuisine they call it bamiyeh; in Egypt and Syria balah el-sham, and datli in Iraq; while in the rest of the Arab world tulumba fritters are also known as asabe Zainab (lit. Zainab's fingers).
These deep-fried, crisp-shelled treats deliver a serious kick of sugar as they are soaked in thick, sometimes lemon-flavored syrup. In Lebanon and Syria, they often use orange blossom and rose water for flavoring, while Gulf countries add cardamom and saffron as well, and in Morocco they use heated honey instead of syrup.
MOST ICONIC Tulumba
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Hanım göbeği is a traditional sweet pastry originating from Turkey. It consists of choux pastry balls that are pressed in the middle to create a dimple, then deep-fried in hot oil and soaked in sugar syrup. The name of this sweet treat means lady's navel, hence the indentation in the middle of the pastry.
The dough is made with a combination of flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and salt, while the syrup is made with a mixture of sugar, water, and lemon juice. The dough should be fried in oil over medium heat, and the pastry is then placed into cold syrup.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 3 Turkish Deep-fried Desserts” list until February 14, 2025, 1,124 ratings were recorded, of which 482 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.