Balah el-Sham (fried dough in syrup)
Golden, crisp-edged fingers of choux-style dough, fried and soaked in a lemony, rose-scented syrup. They are crunchy outside, tender and almost custardy inside, and are served cold.
Ingredients
Instructions
Make the syrup first so it has time to cool. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice, lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in the rose water, remove from the heat and let it cool completely.
Bring the water, butter and salt to a boil in a medium pot. Add all the flour at once, lower the heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a smooth ball that pulls away from the sides. Cook for 1 more minute, then transfer to a bowl and let it cool for about 5 minutes.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, then stir in the vanilla. The dough should be thick, smooth and glossy, and fall slowly from the spoon. Spoon it into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
Heat about 2 inches of oil in a deep pot to 350°F. Pipe 2- to 3-inch lengths of dough straight into the oil, cutting each with scissors or a knife, and fry in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until deep golden brown and crisp.
Lift the pieces out with a slotted spoon, drain for a few seconds on paper towels, then drop them while still hot into the cooled syrup. Turn once, leave for about a minute, and lift onto a platter. Scatter with pistachios and serve cold.
Notes
The dough must be cooled slightly before the eggs go in, or they will scramble. Add the last egg gradually: the dough should be stiff enough to hold the ridges when piped. If it is too loose, the pieces will lose their shape in the oil.
Keep the oil at a steady 350°F. If it is too hot, the outside browns before the inside cooks; if too cool, the pieces turn greasy. Fry a few at a time so the temperature does not drop.
Piped dough can be sticky. A lightly oiled spatula or a small plate makes it easier to slide the pieces into the oil.
Variations
Skip the syrup and finish as in the book: dust with confectioners’ sugar and sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Replace the rose water with orange blossom water, or with an extra teaspoon of vanilla.
Split the cooled pieces and fill them with cream, custard or chocolate.
Serve warm for a softer, stickier texture.
Source
Balah el-Sham (بلح الشام) means “dates of the Levant,” a nod to the shape of the little fried fingers, not to any ingredient. It is the Egyptian and Levantine name for a dessert that goes by many others around the eastern Mediterranean: tulumba in Turkey and Greece, bamiyeh in Persian cooking, where the ridged shape recalls okra. In Egypt it is a familiar sweet, often served during Ramadan, when syrup-soaked pastries are a staple of the evening meal.
The technique is shared across the region: a choux-style dough is piped, fried until golden and soaked in hot sugar syrup. Historians point to medieval Arab cooking as an influence, and the 10th-century Baghdad cookbook of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq already describes a related fried, syrup-soaked sweet, zalabiyeh. Where exactly this particular version began is uncertain, as with many dishes shared across the old Ottoman world.