Puff puff with nutmeg sugar

Plan a week with Nigerian dishes

Let's cook

1. Mix the flour, 100g sugar, yeast, 1 teaspoon nutmeg and salt in a large bowl.
2. Pour in 450ml warm water; it should feel just warm on your wrist, not hot. Stir, then beat with a wooden spoon or your hand for 3 to 4 minutes until you have a smooth, sticky, stretchy batter, thicker than pancake batter.
3. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave it somewhere warm for about 1 hour, until doubled in size and full of bubbles.
4. Heat the oil in a deep pan, no more than a third full, to 170C, or until a drop of batter sizzles and floats at once.
5. Wet your hand. Scoop up some batter, close your fist and squeeze a ball about the size of a walnut out between your thumb and first finger, then drop it into the oil. Two wet teaspoons work too. Fry 6 to 8 at a time.
6. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them, until deep golden all over. Break the first one open to check the middle is cooked; if it browns too fast, turn the heat down a little.
7. Mix the 40g sugar with a pinch of nutmeg. Lift the puff puff onto kitchen paper with a slotted spoon, then roll them in the nutmeg sugar while warm. Serve warm.

Tips

• Never leave hot oil alone, and keep children away from the pan.
• The batter should be loose enough to squeeze but thick enough to hold a round shape.
• Puff puff is best eaten the day it is made.

Swaps

• No sugar coating: dust lightly with icing sugar, or serve them plain.
• Spiced: add half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the batter.

More in the Nigerian meal plan

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.