Gluten-Free Mandazi (East African Coconut Doughnuts)

Ingredients

• 200 g white rice flour
• 100 g tapioca starch
• 10 g psyllium husk powder
• 7 g fast-action dried yeast
• 60 g sugar
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• ½ tsp salt
• 250 ml full-fat coconut milk, warmed
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 l sunflower oil, for deep-frying

Method

1. Whisk the rice flour, tapioca starch, psyllium, yeast, sugar, cardamom and salt in a large bowl.
2. Add the warm coconut milk and 2 tablespoons of oil and mix into a soft dough. Knead it in the bowl for a minute with oiled hands, cover and leave somewhere warm for 45 minutes. It will puff a little, not double.
3. Dust a sheet of baking paper with rice flour and press the dough out to about 1 cm thick. Cut into 8 cm squares, then cut each square into 2 triangles. Leave to rest for 15 minutes.
4. Heat the frying oil in a deep, heavy pan to 170 °C (a cube of dough should sizzle and rise in about 20 seconds).
5. Fry 3 or 4 at a time for 2–3 minutes per side, turning once, until puffed and deep golden. Drain on kitchen paper.
6. Serve warm with tea or chai. They are best on the day; reheat leftovers for a few minutes in a hot oven.

Gluten-free check: Buy rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, sorghum flour and psyllium husk labelled gluten-free – naturally gluten-free flours are often milled alongside wheat. Use fresh oil that has not been used to fry wheat foods – street-stall mandazi are made with wheat flour and share the oil, so they are not safe. Cardamom and yeast: check the label.