A couple of weeks ago, one of the readers of this blog requested that I make fatcooks. Fatcooks or voetcooks or amagwinya are a pastry that are made by deep frying dough. They are eaten widely for breakfast in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
I love fatcooks but I don’t make them often. As the name suggests they are not exactly celery but they are oh so good!
I used a different recipe to what my mother usually does. After mixing my dough I let it sit the fridge for two hours before rolling it out into balls and deep frying.
Fatcooks recipe
Prep Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 4 hours
Servings 16
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour plus
- more for rolling
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour milk
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 6 to 8 cups vegetable/canola oil for deep frying
Instructions
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In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
-
In another large bowl, whisk the sour milk and sugar, until smooth and combined.
-
Beat in the eggs until just combined.
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Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. The dough will be sticky.
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Refrigerate it for about 2 hours, or until completely chilled.
-
Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Knead for 2 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Return the dough to the fridge for another hour.
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Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 rolls.
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Put the rolls in the refrigerator while you heat the oil.
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In a heavy medium pot or a deep-fat fryer, put enough oil to achieve a depth of about 4 inches; heat it to 375° F.
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Gently transfer 4-5 fatcooks into the pot.
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Fry until golden brown on each side.
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Remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to blot excess oil.