In brief
- Puff puff: balls of yeast-risen dough, fried, soft on the inside and lightly crisp on the outside
- Origin: Nigeria
- Essential ingredients: wheat flour, baker's yeast, sugar, nutmeg
- Street snack and afternoon treat, often dusted with sugar
Origins and cultural history of puff puff
Puff puff is a fried, yeast-risen dough fritter that originated in Nigeria. Its batter, runnier than bread dough, rises with baker's yeast before frying, which gives it a soft, airy texture, unlike the crumbly, crisp dough of chin chin.
The same kind of fritter exists across Africa under other names: bofrot or buffloaf in Ghana, botokoin in Togo, bofloto in Côte d'Ivoire, mikate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, legemat in Sudan, vetkoek or magwinya in southern Africa, and mandazi in East Africa. In French-speaking countries, it is also called gato in Guinea and Mali, or beignet in Senegal and Cameroon, with a Senegalese variant sometimes using millet flour instead of wheat.
What are the essential ingredients of puff puff
Making puff puff relies on a simple, no-knead yeast-risen batter that rests before being fried into balls.
- Wheat flour
- Dry baker's yeast
- Sugar
- Ground nutmeg
- Salt
What to know about puff puff
Puff puff is a Nigerian fried fritter made from yeast dough, soft and airy inside and a little crisp outside. Its batter, thinner than bread dough, is made without kneading from wheat flour, dry baker's yeast, sugar, ground nutmeg and salt, then left to rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour in a warm place before being fried into balls. It is a street snack and an afternoon treat, often dusted with sugar.
Frequently asked questions about puff puff
What is the difference between puff puff and chin chin?
Puff puff is a runnier, yeast-risen batter fried into soft balls. Chin chin is an unleavened shortcrust dough, cut into small, dry, crisp squares. Both are Nigerian, sweet and fried, but their texture and preparation differ markedly.
Why isn't my puff puff dough rising?
Check that the water used to activate the yeast is lukewarm, around 35 to 40 degrees (water that is too hot kills the yeast), and let the dough rest in a warm spot, away from drafts, for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Where to find puff puff ingredients in France?
NKOSI sells the cane sugar from this recipe and ships it from the Paris area within 24 to 72 working hours, to mainland France (2 to 3 working days) and to ten European countries. The minimum order is 39 €: in France, delivery to a pickup point is then free, and home delivery is free from 69 €.
