Dibile

The strips are folded in the hot oil itself and then dipped in syrup, where the dry version is only dusted.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (milk).

Ingredients

the dough

• 400 g plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 100 ml milk
• ½ teaspoon salt

the syrup

• 200 g grape molasses (pekmez)
• 100 g sugar
• 150 ml water
• a squeeze of lemon

to fry

• 1 litre sunflower oil

to finish

• 80 g walnuts, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

1. THE STRIPS ARE FOLDED IN THE HOT OIL ITSELF AND THEN DIPPED IN SYRUP. The folding is done with two forks in the pan, in the first few seconds while the dough is still soft enough to move and already stiff enough to hold a shape -- a bow tie, or a strip drawn through a slit in itself and twisted into a spiral. Folded on the board beforehand, the dough relaxes and the shape opens out as it fries. This is also the step that separates it from the dry fried pastries it is otherwise identical to: those come out of the oil and are dusted with sugar, while these are plunged into a pekmez syrup.
2. THE SYRUP IS GRAPE MOLASSES, NOT ONLY SUGAR. Two hundred grams of pekmez with a little sugar and water. It gives the dark colour and the faintly sour, raisiny depth; a plain sugar syrup leaves a pale sweet pastry with none of that.
3. HOT PASTRY INTO COOL SYRUP. The pastries come straight from the oil into syrup that has been made and left to cool. Hot into hot and they go limp and waterlogged; hot into cool and they take up a thin coat and keep their crispness. A few seconds only -- in and out, not a soak.
4. THE DOUGH HAS VINEGAR AND EGG AND IS ROLLED VERY THIN. The vinegar keeps it extensible so it can be rolled almost translucent without springing back; the eggs give it enough body to hold a fold. Thin is what makes it shatter rather than crunch.
5. THEY ARE DEEP-FRIED, AND AT 170°C -- LOWER THAN IT LOOKS LIKE IT SHOULD BE. A full litre of oil, deep enough that the strips float free and can be turned and folded rather than resting on the pan, which is what the shaping needs. But these are thin and sugar-free, and at 190°C they are dark before the inside has dried. 170°C gives thirty to forty seconds a side -- enough to shape, puff slightly and dry through to a pale gold.
6. The flour and salt mixed with the eggs, oil, vinegar and milk to a firm dough. Kneaded 10 MINUTES and rested 40 MINUTES.
7. The syrup ingredients brought to a simmer for 5 MINUTES, then LEFT TO COOL COMPLETELY.
8. The dough rolled out VERY THIN and cut into strips about 3 cm by 12 cm, each with a slit down the middle.
9. The oil heated to 170°C.
10. A few strips dropped in and FOLDED IN THE PAN with two forks in the first seconds -- into bow ties, or drawn through their own slit and twisted into spirals.
11. Fried 30 to 40 SECONDS a side to a pale gold.
12. Lifted out and plunged into the COOL syrup for a few SECONDS only, then onto a rack.
13. The crushed walnuts and cinnamon scattered over while still tacky.
14. TESTED: it should still shatter after syruping. Limp means the syrup was warm or the dip too long.
15. Eaten the same day.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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