Mandazi

Morning guys! I've had an on and off relationship with these little things. There are days I'll eat so many of this and there are times when just the sight of them makes me sick.
Mandazi is one of the types of snack that you can experiment with all ingredients known to man.
The only ingredient I have probably never added are stones...tihihi.
Onto serious matters. This was one of those lazy Sundays where you literally drag yourself around the house dreading Monday, so I did it real simple. I'll start by listing all the ingredients I have worked with before milk, eggs, sugar, strawberry essence, cinnamon, cardamon, dessicated coconut, lemon, cocoa, coconut milk, vanilla essence and more to come.

Note: The recipe for mahamri is the same as mandazi except for one thing though, we use Yeast and not baking powder for mahamri.

In this, I only used Flour, Baking powder, Milk, Cardamon powder, oil for frying. PS: If you use 'All purpose baking flour', you need to add baking powder but if you're using 'self raising flour',  there's no need to add baking powder as it already contains raising agents.

Method:Sieve the flour into a bowl, add baking powder and cardamon powder in a bowl and mix well. Next, slowly add warm milk in small quantities, remember you are not constructing a swimming pool. Knead the flour until you make soft but not sticky dough. Sticky dough will stick to your hands. Sometimes I do add some cooking oil to my dough. When done, cover the dough and let it sit for an hour or more. I use cling film or foil to cover my dough.

When ready to start cooking, make small balls from your dough and roll them to circular shapes. For those who make square rolled out dough, don't worry, no one will know they were not circular unlike chapos where you can spot a shapeless one from a mile away. Use a knife to cut your dough into your preferred shapes. I cut mine in fours.

* Keep in mind that if you roll out very thin dough, your mandazis will turn  out like biscuits or crisps. So let it have some body.

Next, heat oil in a deep pan. Note that very hot oil will only cook the outside and not the inside. To know whether the oil is hot enough, I usually dip a wooden cooking spoon into the oil; if bubbles form, then I know it is hot enough. But if you see your oil producing smoke, it is too hot, reduce the heat and let it cool for a minute or two. I said reduce, not turn off.

Put your dough into the oil carefully to avoid spilling or you'll be eating your mandazis from the hospital bed. You can put as many pieces your pan can hold.

Another point to keep in mind. If you put too much oil in your pan, it is going to spill from the pan and into the fire when you add your dough pieces. I've seen mini bonfires when that happens. I must admit it is a beautiful sight but it's not meant to happen like that. You could suffer from burns as bad as third degree.

Manadazis cook very fast so this is not the time to dash to the television to watch your favorite commercial ad. I prefer  mine just slightly browned which takes a few seconds. When one side is cooked, turn to the other side.

After they've cooked I cover them with a cloth to cool and later put them in a air tight container.