Mandazi — East African cardamom and coconut doughnuts

i. Origin & history

Mandazi comes from the Swahili-speaking coast of East Africa, the long strip of trading towns from southern Somalia through Kenya and Tanzania to northern Mozambique, including Mombasa, Lamu, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. For more than a thousand years these towns traded across the Indian Ocean with Arabia, Persia and India, and Swahili cooking reflects it: cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, rice and coconut milk are everyday ingredients. Mandazi, with its cardamom and coconut, is a product of that coast.

From the coast it spread inland along trade and later railway routes, and it is now eaten throughout Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Congo. Inland versions are often simpler, made with cow's milk or water instead of coconut milk and leavened with baking powder, and they are a staple street food — sold by the piece at bus stops, school gates and markets.

The name is Swahili. Andazi is the singular and maandazi or mandazi the plural, though mandazi is now commonly used for one as well as many. On the coast a closely related doughnut is called mahamri (or mamri): it is usually yeast-raised and made with coconut milk and cardamom, and is famously eaten for breakfast with mbaazi za nazi, pigeon peas cooked in coconut milk. Many people use the two names loosely, but on the coast mahamri is the richer, yeasted, coconut version.

Mandazi is eaten at any time of day but most of all at breakfast, dunked in sweet milky chai spiced with ginger or cardamom. On the coast it is also a common food for breaking the fast in Ramadan, and it is made in quantity for weddings, funerals and other gatherings.

ii. What makes mandazi puff

A good mandazi swells in the oil into a puffy pillow with a large air pocket inside and a thin, golden, slightly crisp shell. The puff comes from two sources: the leavening — baking powder in most inland recipes, yeast in mahamri — and steam. As the dough hits the hot oil, the water near the surface turns to steam and the gases from the leavening expand, inflating the thin piece of dough before the crust sets.

That is why the dough is rolled fairly thin, about 7 mm. A thin piece heats through quickly, so it inflates evenly; a thick piece sets on the outside before the centre has risen and stays dense and bready. It is also why mandazi are turned as soon as they float and puff: flipping them repeatedly in the first minute helps both sides rise evenly.

The dough itself is well kneaded, more like a soft bread dough than a scone dough, and rested for at least 30 minutes. Kneading develops some gluten, which gives the dough the stretch to hold the expanding gas, and resting relaxes it so it rolls out without shrinking back. Coconut milk contributes fat, which keeps the crumb tender, and its flavour; the sugar is modest, so the mandazi browns without burning.

Oil temperature controls everything else. At about 170–175 °C the dough puffs and browns in 2–3 minutes. Cooler oil soaks into the dough before it can seal, giving greasy mandazi; hotter oil browns the outside before the inside is cooked.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 12 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 500 g plain flour
• 80 g caster sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 250 ml coconut milk, warmed slightly
• 30 g butter, melted, or 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1500 ml vegetable oil, for frying

Plain all-purpose flour is standard; East African cooks typically use local wheat flour that sits between plain and bread flour, so a spoonful or two of bread flour is fine. Cardamom is the defining spice — grind it fresh from the pods if you can; a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon is a common addition. Coconut milk gives the coastal flavour and a tender crumb; whole milk or even water with a little more butter gives the plainer inland style. For a vegan mandazi, leave out the egg, add 2 tbsp more coconut milk and use oil instead of butter. To make mahamri, replace the baking powder with 7 g instant yeast and let the dough rise for 1–2 hours.

iv. Method

1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom and salt in a large bowl.
2. Beat the egg with the warm coconut milk and melted butter, pour into the dry ingredients and mix to a soft, slightly tacky dough. Add a spoonful more coconut milk or flour if needed.
3. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5–8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Cover with a cloth and rest for 30 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into three. Roll each into a circle about 7 mm thick and cut it into 8 wedges, or roll into a rectangle and cut squares, then halve each into triangles.
5. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pan to 170–175 °C. A scrap of dough should rise to the surface and sizzle steadily within a few seconds.
6. Fry 4–5 pieces at a time. As soon as they float, turn them with a slotted spoon, and keep turning every 30 seconds or so; they will puff within the first minute. Fry for 2–3 minutes in total, until golden brown all over.
7. Lift out and drain on kitchen paper. Serve warm, plain or dusted with a little sugar.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Knead properly. A barely mixed dough tears as it puffs and gives dense mandazi. It should be smooth and spring back when pressed.
• Roll to an even thickness. Thin edges and a thick middle cook unevenly; about 7 mm all over gives the best puff.
• Keep the dough covered. Exposed pieces form a dry skin that stops them puffing; keep cut pieces under a cloth until fried.
• Turn early and often. Flipping as soon as they float helps both faces rise evenly and gives the classic pillowy shape.
• Watch the oil. Below 165 °C mandazi are greasy; above 180 °C they darken before the inside cooks. Let the oil recover between batches.
• Do not oversweeten. Mandazi is meant to be mildly sweet so it goes with tea and savoury dishes such as beans; the cardamom carries the flavour.

vi. Variations

Mahamri, the coastal version, is yeast-raised and rich with coconut milk and cardamom, and is served with pigeon peas in coconut. Inland mandazi use milk or water and baking powder and are often less spiced. Modern bakers add lemon or orange zest, grated coconut, ginger or cinnamon; some shape mandazi into rounds or knots. In Uganda, the kabalagala is a related fried banana-and-cassava-flour cake.

Fried, lightly sweet doughs are made all around the Indian Ocean and beyond. The Arabic luqaimat are small dumplings glazed in date syrup; South Africa's koeksisters are plaited and soaked in cold syrup; the Dutch oliebollen and Norwegian smultring are northern cousins.

vii. Serving & storage

Serve mandazi warm for breakfast or an afternoon snack with chai, coffee or milky tea, or alongside beans or pigeon peas in coconut milk. At gatherings they are piled high on trays. A dusting of sugar is optional and often skipped.

They are best on the day they are fried but keep for 2 days in an airtight tin or bag. Refresh them in a low oven, 150 °C (300 °F), for 5 minutes. Fried mandazi freeze well for up to a month; reheat from frozen in the oven. The dough can be made the night before and kept covered in the fridge; bring it to room temperature before rolling.

ix. More from African

• Koeksisters — South African syrup plaits
• Luqaimat — date-syrup dumplings
• Oliebollen — Dutch New Year doughnuts
• Smultring — Norwegian cardamom doughnuts
• Berliner — German jam doughnuts
• Baked Banana Fritters — oven-baked banana bites