Puff Puff (Nigerian Fried Yeasted Dough)

Puff puff (also puff-puff) is a snack of deep-fried yeasted dough, reminiscent of doughnut holes in appearance, but with a crisp exterior that gives way to a chewy, spongy interior. In Nigeria, puff puff is rarely spoken of in the singular or used with an article. “Can I have puff puff?” is the question you'll hear, not "a puff puff," nor "some puff puffs." I speculate that the origins of the name come from the way the batter puffs up in the oil when fried, doubling in size as it takes on its signature golden hue. Puff puff is consumed all over Nigeria: at home, as street food, and as an essential part of small chops, a collection of Nigerian snacks served at parties, events, and celebrations along with other bites like mosa (plantain fritters), Chinese-style spring rolls, Indian samosas, and an array of meat and seafood nibbles. 

The batter is made in a similar fashion to a yeasted dough: flour, sugar, fast-acting yeast, and water are stirred together along with seasonings like nutmeg and vanilla extract. It's then covered and left to sit in a warm spot until doubled in size. Once risen, all that’s left to do is fry it. I suggest using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to form and drop rounds of the batter into the hot oil, since I've found it to be the most convenient way to make puff puff. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, use two spoons to scoop and form the batter into rough rounds before dropping them into the hot oil. Puff puff–making experts will forgo any tools, instead relying on their hands, which can be moistened with water, to shape, scoop, and "pipe" the batter (I wouldn't recommend this for anyone who isn't a very experienced fry cook, and even then, it's probably not the best idea for most).

One of the challenges when frying puff puff is their reluctance to brown uniformly: Due to their round shape, the puffs will tend to want to roll to one side, making it difficult to brown the part that floats above the oil. To work around this, I like to fry puff puff in a single compact layer, which gives them less room to flip back over once turned. A wire mesh spider can also be used to push the puff puff down into the oil and ensure every side is exposed to its heat. 

Puff puff are often eaten on their own, but they can also be served alongside crispy fried whitebait, a pairing I learned to enjoy later in life after decades of eating them plain. That pairing, in turn, introduced me to a world of possibilities in which puff puff can be flavored with different spices, fruits (like passion fruit), nuts, seeds (black sesame seed is a favorite of mine), and served with meat, seafood, and sweet or savory sauces.

At home, I like to serve puff puff with a fried pepper sauce (something along the lines of Nigerian beef stew or obe ata, but with a touch more heat); serve or stuff them with sweet sauces like mango cream, passion fruit cream, or lemon curd; or toss them in orange or cinnamon sugars for a sugary crunch. The batter can also be cooked up and eaten as pancakes or waffles; this is a great way to use up any leftover batter that has become too thin to fry into puffs. Anyway you eat it, on its own or served with sauces, dips and more, puff puff is always a winner.