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Mofo menakely
Mofo menakely: little yeasted rice-flour rings fried golden for Malagasy morning coffee
Ring-shaped and no wider than a teacup, mofo menakely are fried in wide pans of oil at dawn on the street corners of Antananarivo and Antsirabe, then sold by the bagful to people heading for the bus. Rice flour gives them a crisp, slightly sandy shell and a chewy, faintly sour crumb from the slow rise, and they are only lightly sweet, which is why the Highlands dunk them in sugary coffee. Wheat flour helps the dough hold its shape; a few cooks go all rice and shape with wet hands. Expect the batter-like dough to feel too soft at first: adding more flour to make it handleable is a mistake that leaves them dense. Chef's tip: shape each ring straight into the hot oil from a wet palm, poking the hole with a wet finger, rather than trying to roll the dough on a board.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 10 ½ oz rice flour
- 3 ½ oz plain flour
- 2 ⅛ oz caster sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
- 4 ¼ cups sunflower oilfor deep frying
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Whisk 10 ½ oz rice flour, 3 ½ oz plain flour, 2 ⅛ oz caster sugar, ¼ oz fast-action dried yeast and ½ tsp salt in a large bowl.
Step 2: Pour in 1 ½ cups lukewarm water and beat with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes into a thick, sticky dough, like a very stiff porridge. Don't add more flour.
2 minStep 3: Cover the bowl and leave it somewhere warm until the dough has risen by about half and is dotted with bubbles on top.
75 minStep 4: Heat 4 ¼ cups sunflower oil in a deep pan over a medium heat to 350°F, or until a pinch of dough rises straight away with steady bubbles.
8 minStep 5: Wet your hands, take a walnut-sized piece of dough, flatten it on your palm to about 1 cm thick and push a hole through the middle with a wet finger. Slide it gently into the oil. Fry 4 or 5 at a time.
Step 6: Fry, turning once, until deep golden all over and they sound hollow when tapped with a spoon. If they brown in under 2 minutes, the oil is too hot and the middles will stay raw.
4 minStep 7: Drain on kitchen paper and serve warm with coffee. They are best within a few hours.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 64 g
- Fat
- 7 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mofo menakely take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 90 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of caster sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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