Nigerian Puff-Puff/ Ghanaian bofrot

Hi Guys!!

Hope you had a wonderful week?...I sure did.

Ever had one of those days when all you want to eat is something fried, hot, soft and yummy, something from home that would be perfect for the horrible spring weather (cold and wet) we are having here. Well, fried yam came to mind first, but I just wasn't in the mood to go looking for yam tubers here in Sheffield.

So, I decided to try out a recipe from way back. Funny thing is, I might probably be the first or only Nigerian child that never actually had puff puff made at home. I'm not sure why, but for some reason, I don't remember my mum making it for us. I remember having it as a child though because one of my uncles bought it from a hawker on the street. 

I didn't eat it again until I went to Ghana. Its actually called 'Kose' in there, its made into very huge balls and is usually served as breakfast with some 'koko' which is pretty much very light and watery 'pap/akamu' in Nigeria.  From the kose-seller down my street, you would probably get about two huge balls of 'kose' with about a cup of 'koko' and that was a very filling breakfast... trust me!

So, I decided to re-create those fond memories of 'kose/ puff puff' without the koko/ akamu in this recipe, and make mine a bit more playful, and small for portion control. 

So heres how I made it.

Ingredients

• 1tbsp of yeast
• 2 cups of flour
• 1tsp of nutmeg
• 1/2 cup of warm water
• 1/2 cup of warm milk
• 1tbsp of sugar
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 egg (optional)
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 2 litres of oil for frying

Instructions

1. In a bowl, place the flour, salt, nutmeg, egg (optional) and pepper then mix together. It might became sticky and almost doughy if you add the egg, if not it would just be the dry ingredients.

   

   Flour in the bowl

   
   

   

   Adding the nutmeg

   
   

   

   Adding salt into the flour and nutmeg

2. Add the cup of warm water into the cup of milk, add the sugar and mix. Then add the yeast and allow it to activate for about 5 minutes.

   

   Yeast being added to the warm milk and water

   
   

   

   Activating the yeast

3. Gradually add the yeast mixture into the dough or flour mixture and mix till it becomes slightly runny and sticky. 

   

   Adding the yeast into the flour

   
   
   
   
   

   

   Sticky batter

4. Cover with a cling film or towel and place in a warm place for about 20 minutes.

   

   After 20 minutes, bubbles begin to form in the batter

5. Place the frying oil in a deep pot and allow it to heat up.

   

   Heating up the oil

6. Scoop the batter into the hot oil, and allow it to fry until it puffs up in the pan and the bottom begins to turn golden brown. Then flip it over and allow the other side to turn brown. (Mine had funny shapes...lol)

   

   Placing the batter into the hot oil

   
   

   

   Flipping one side over

7. Remove from the oil, and serve immediately.