Grandma's Design

LADY'S NAVEL

GRANDMA

Deniz

COUNTRY

Turkey

ORIGIN

Istanbul

INGREDIENTS

For Syrup

600 g sugar
600 ml water

For Dough

400 ml water
100 g butter
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon sugar
250 g all-purpose flour
4 eggs

For Frying

Sunflower oil for deep frying

For serving

100 g clotted cream
50 g crushed pistachio

HISTORY

Lady’ navel (hanım göbeği) is one of the classical pastry desserts in Turkish cuisine. It is made of egg-enriched dough like choux pastry. Desserts like vezir parmağı (Vizier’s finger), dilber dudağı (Lady’s Lips) can be made out of the same dough. This dessert originates from the Ottoman palace cuisine in Istanbul. Since the 18th century Ottoman cookbooks include recipes for lady’s navel. But the culinary technique used in these early recipes was different from today, except for the shape of the dessert. Small bagel shaped cookies made of a butter based dough flavored with rose water were cooked in the oven. The Ottoman recipe of lady’s navel from the late 19th century also included eggs in the preparation of the dough. But still the cookies were cooked in the oven unlike today. The contemporary type of lady’s navel is derived from the choux pastry technique which has been known in Istanbul patisseries since the early 20th century. Turkish cookbooks published in 1930’s list recipes of lady’s navel made of choux pastry.

More Minus

HOW TO

Prepare the syrup in advance. Put sugar and water into a pan and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Leave to cool.Put the water, butter, salt and sugar in a pan and bring to boil.Add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously, until the mixture becomes smooth and leaves the sides of the pan. Cook 5 minutes and let it cool for 10 minutes.Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.Do not be hasty in adding and incorporating the eggs. The dough will be very soft and sticky and will look smooth and glossy.Knead the dough 10 minutes.Oil palms of hands. Pinch off walnut size pieces of dough and roll each piece into ball. Press to flatten slightly about 5 cm, and then with finger, indent middle of dough ball to make a hole. Put the sunflower oil in a frying pan and place the lady’s navels in cold oil.Fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and drop them into the cold syrup for 10-15 minutes.Repeat with remaining dough pieces, letting oil cool before cooking each batch. Serve cold with clotted cream or crushed pistachios.VARIATIONS: Vizier's Fingers - Proceed as with Lady's Navel, but shape dough into finger-sized rolls. Beauty's Lips - Proceed as for Lady's Navel but shape dough by pinching off large walnut-size pieces of dough. Flatten and fold each in two to form "lips."