Sfenj - North African Beignets

Total Time: 25 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup warm water
• vegetable oil, for frying
• powdered sugar (optional)
• honey (optional)

Recipe

• 1 dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of the warm water and set aside.
• 2 mix the flour, salt and rest of the warm water in a large bowl. add the water and yeast mixture, and stir vigorously with your hand or a spoon until smooth. the dough should be too sticky to knead or shape, almost like a batter.
• 3 cover the bowl, and leave the dough to rise for two to four hours, until double or triple in bulk.
• 4 in a wide pot, heat an inch or more of vegetable oil until hot. dip your hands in water, and pull off a piece of dough about the size of a small plum. use your fingers to make a hole in the ball of dough, stretch the hole wide to make a ring, and place the dough in the hot oil.
• 5 repeat with the remaining dough, wetting your hands as necessary to keep the dough from sticking as you work with it. don't overcrowd the rings in the hot oil.
• 6 fry the sfenj until golden brown, turning once or twice (two to four minutes each side). remove the cooked sfenj to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. serve hot with powdered sugar or honey.
• 7 serve the sfenj hot. if desired, dip the sfenj in sugar to sweeten them.