World Stroll
Nigerian recipe

How to make Puff-puff

All of Nigeria and West Africa; the name is Nigerian

Puff-puff
Photo: Afrolems ; cropped by Off-shell, CC BY-SA 4.0

Soft, round balls of sweet yeast dough, deep-fried until golden. They are sold at street stalls and served at every party, sometimes rolled in sugar.

Serves 6 1 h 30 min

Ingredients

  • 300 g plain flour
  • 60 g sugar
  • 1 sachet (7 g, about 2 teaspoons) fast-action dried yeast
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of ground nutmeg
  • About 250 ml warm water
  • Vegetable oil for deep frying

Method

  1. Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and nutmeg in a bowl, then stir in the warm water to make a thick, sticky batter.
  2. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, until it has doubled in size and is full of bubbles.
  3. Heat 5 cm of oil in a deep pan to about 170 °C. Scoop up a little batter with your hand or two spoons and drop small balls into the oil.
  4. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them, until golden brown all over. Take great care with hot oil.
  5. Drain on kitchen paper and serve warm, plain or rolled in sugar.
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