Anyway, google informs me reliably that one of the only (not really baked but dough based!) traditional type sweet things Ghana has given to the world which I could recreate without too much hassle are balls. Balls of fried dough, sweet with a kick of nutmeg.
These balls in fact:
Nice round doughnuts with a nutmeg flavour. Would I make them again? Probably not, but only for a couple of reasons:
1. I made them a bit too big, so the insides were a bit bland. Smaller ones would have probably had a better ratio of nice crisp chewy outside to soft inside. Maybe filling them with something would work?
2. They made the kitchen smell pretty oily thanks to the frying. I don't have a fryer, if you did I'm sure this wouldn't be as much of an issue.
The recipe: Made 8 reasonably chunky sized doughnuts...
Cobbled together from a few recipes on the internet!
125ml warm water
1 tsp fast action dry yeast
50g caster sugar
about 150-200g bread flour (enough to make a soft but not runny dough)
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg (I used 1/4tsp but I would use more next time).
Method: Knead all ingredients together until smooth and elasticy (about 5 minutes by hand). It doesn't have to be too worked. Leave it to rise for about 2 hours - the sugar in the dough retards the yeast so it will rise more slowly than regular bread dough. Once risen, knock back then divide into 8-10 balls.
When ready to cook, put veg or sunflower oil (or any other tasteless oil, by which I mean flavourless as opposed to one with an unsavoury outlook on life) to a depth of about 2-3 cm in a pan. Gently heat until a little pinch of the dough bubbles when plopped in, then lower the balls 3 or 4 at a time on a slotted spoon into the oil, Let it fry for 2-3 minutes, then turn over so it puffs evenly and browns all over. They will need about 6-8 minutes for each one if you make 10 out of this mixture.
Drain on paper, dust with icing sugar and serve warm.
So... apologies to anyone who loves these, I don't think I did them justice! BUT it has given me confidence that I could one day make a decent doughnut. Deep fried dough, mmm!!
Next stop... Iceland! Til next time...
JB x
