Puff-Puff (Deep Fried Dough)

Most West African countries are familiar with the popular street food Puff- Puff, which is known by different names depending on the country. Ghanaians call it Bofrot (togbei), Cameroonians and Nigerians call it Puff-Puff (Puff) or beignet in French. The basic ingredient consist of: flour, sugar, yeast, water, salt and oil for deep frying.

It is an easy and quick recipe to make with different variations. This recipe is the one I have been making for years and the one that takes me back to my hometown. It brings back memories of late night snacking on the street.

Ingredients

250 ml warm water
2 Tablespoon of dry yeast (alternatively fresh yeast) (approx. 7g)
450 g Flour
4-5 Tablespoon of Sugar
2 Teaspoon of salt

Oil for deep-frying

 

Important Note

Flour – This pantry must-have isn’t just for baking. it’s also great for many savory dishes.

Yeast – This is basically the life of the dish. we’ll need this to make the dough rise and give it an airy and fluffy texture.

Warm water – An essential part of making any dough. It’s the basis for forming our treat. It’s important to have in just the right warmth. If we use water that’s too hot or too cold, we’ll end up killing the yeast.

Salt – it’s important to place this ingredient as far away from the yeast as possible. it basically deactivates or kills the yeast. You can also opt to add this after the dough has risen.

Sugar – Common table sugar you can easily find in any grocery store.

Cooking oil – We’re gonna need a lot of oil for deep frying the puff puffs.

Preparation

  1. Mix salt, sugar, water, and yeast . Set aside for 5 minutes.
  2. Add flour and mix.
  3. Let the mixture rise for approximately 1- 2 hours
  4. In a large,s auce pan pour vegetable oil into a pot, until it is at least 3 inches (or about 5 centimeters) high (too little will result in flatter balls), and place on low heat.
  5. Test to make sure the oil is hot enough by putting a ‘drop’ of batter into the oil. If it is not hot enough, the batter will stay at the bottom of the pot rather than rising to the top.
  6. Using your hands grab a little bit of mixture at time and drop in the oil.
  7. When the oil is hot enough, use a spoon to dish up the batter, and another spoon or spatula to drop it in the oil, sort of in the shape of a ball.
  8. Fry for a few minutes until the bottom side is golden brown.
  9. Turn the ball over and fry for a few more minutes until the other side is golden brown.
  10. Use a large spoon or something like that to take it out of the oil. I usually place them on napkins right away to soak up some of the excess oil.
  11. If desired, you can roll the finished product in table sugar or powdered sugar to make it sweeter.

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