Blog: Tanzanian Recipe: Mandazi

This week, we would like to give you something fun for you to try! One of the children's culinary favorites is a Tanzanian specialty called Mandazi. Mandazi are East African donuts, and we are going to tell you how to make them! If you get a chance to try out this recipe, we would love to know what you think!

You will need:
- 2 cups of warm water
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 4 cups of flour
- ½ cup of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- Salt
- Oil for deep frying

Instructions:

To begin, mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl to form a dough.

Using your hands is probably the easiest technique!

Next, as demonstrated here by the beautiful Zawadi, roll out your fresh dough with a rolling pin.

Zawadi very happily demonstrating how to roll out the dough.

When you have a nice flat dough surface, cut the dough into shapes in preparation for frying. Here are some examples from the Lamai Serengeti Blog of shapes traditionally used in Tanzania.

Image by Lamai Serengeti blog

Once you have your mandazi shapes, you are ready to start frying! Sounds simple, right? It is! Be very careful when placing your dough pieces into the hot oil. When you see them turning a lovely brown colour, turn them over to fry the other side. When each mandazi is completely cooked, as shown in the picture below, they're ready!

Image by Lamai Serengeti Blog

Serve them hot or cold; both are delicious! Take a look at some of the children thoroughly enjoying their mandazi!
Please feel free to post a photo to our Facebook page of your own attempt at making mandazi. We would love to hear from you!