Authentic Diples - Fried Pastry With Honey And Walnuts

Make The Dough:

1. In a small bowl mix together the lemon juice, brandy, sugar, salt, baking soda and olive oil.
2. In a mixing bowl beat the eggs lightly with a hand whisk for 2-3 minutes. Then add the dissolved baking soda mixture and whisk to combine.
3. Now incorporate the flour into the egg mixture one cup at a time. After the first two cups are incorporated, start to mix the dough with your hands. Until all the flour is mixed into the dough.
4. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until it stops sticking to your hands. If it still sticks add a bit more flour. Be careful though not to add too much.
5. Shape the dough into a ball and rub it with olive oil all over so it won't air dry. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let the dough rest at room temperature for about 1 hour and a half.
6. You will need a large working surface to roll open this dough. So a big table would be ideal for this.
7. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Take the first piece of dough, shape into a round disk and place it on your working surface that you have floured lightly. Add the remaining pieces back to the bowl.
8. Using a rolling pin, start to roll the dough up and down. Flipping it every now and then and dusting the surface and top of the dough with flour as needed.
9. Open it to about 90cm to 1 meter long (35 inches) and about 25 cm wide (10 inches).
10. Then use either a cotton sheet or tea towel and lay the dough flat on top (you can use any fabric that doesn't leave threads on the dough). Cover it with a piece of fabric on top as well. The dough has to rest this way for 15-20 minutes. This is done so the dough holds its shape. For example, if proceed with cutting the rolled dough without letting it rest first it will crawl back together and become smaller again.
11. Repeat this process for the remaining pieces of dough. You may even stack the rolled doughs on top of each other as long as there is fabric in between them.
12. Heat plenty of frying oil in a large pan and wait until it gets to about 180°C / 356°F degrees. Try not to let the oil go over that temperature and become smoky hot as it will over-color the Diples.
13. Cut the first long piece of dough into 5 rectangle-like pieces. Trim off the outer edges to make them look nice and even. Or cut into smaller pieces of your preference (triangles, squares twisted into bows) and fry in batches.

Roll And Fry Diples:

1. Take the first rectangle and add it to the pan laying it flat into the oil. It will start to get white in color and form bubbles. Count to 8 and with two forks flip it upside down. Take one cooking fork and grab the one end of the dough (the one closest to you) and roll the dough around the fork like you would roll your spaghetti. Use a normal fork on the opposite edge to help you roll it.
2. Once you rolled it all the way, use the fork to hold it down so it won't unroll.
3. Cook for no more than a minute. Just until the Dipla gets light golden all over.
4. Transfer to a large pan covered with paper towels. Place the Dipla in order to stand on the wall of the pan and let drain all the oil from its center.
5. Proceed on making the remaining diples one at a time.

Make The Syrup:

1. Add all of the ingredients for the syrup to a cooking pot and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 10-12 minutes completely uncovered and without stirring the syrup.
2. Turn the heat off and take the diples one by one and add them to the hot syrup. Give a few turns so they coat all over and trasfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle with plenty of ground walnuts on top.
3. If you don't want your Diples that sweet you can drizzle the syrup on top instead. Or you can serve them with just some warmed honey on top. But don't forget the ground walnuts and cinnamon as they're a holiday must!