East African donuts: mandazi
UGANDA ~ Ever since we visited Uganda, we enjoy making mandazi now and then: light fluffy doughnuts. They are a great snack on their own but we love them paired with bharazi (will share recipe soon!), an East African dish of pigeon peas simmered in coconut milk.
East African cooking (Uganda)
What you need
60 ml (1/4 cup) warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dried yeast
50g creamed coconut (alternative: the thickened top of canned coconut)
60 ml (1/4 cup) water
180 g (1.5 cups) all-purpose flour
100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
1/3 teaspoon coarsely ground green cardamom
Sunflower oil, for frying
East African fried Mandazi
What you do
Place the warm water in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar and yeast and let it develop for 10 minutes.
Mix coconut cream and water, so it dissolves.
Mix flour, sugar, cardamom and yeast into a bowl.
Slowly stir the coconut cream into this mixture and then knead it well.
Cover the dough and let it rest overnight.
Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and roll each into a 15 cm (6 inch) circle about half a cm (0.25 inch) thick.
Cut these circle into quarters.
Let them rest on a floured surface until they double in size (will take about an hour).
Deep-fry the mandazi in oil on medium heat, about 190°C (375°F) until golden brown.
Remove them with a slotted spoon to a baking tray covered with absorbent kitchen paper to remove the excess oil.
Enjoy these East African mandaazi, as a snack, with a curry of bharazi, a dip or with a cup of spicy tea.
Zanzibari mandazi
We have another mandazi recipe for you: on Zanzibar, an insular autonomous region of Tanzania, we met Zainabu, originally from Mozambique and now frying doughnuts in a road stall.
photo art
Have you visited our online shop?