Magwinya, known in English across southern Africa as fat cakes, are balls of soft, slightly sweet yeast dough fried until they puff and turn the color of toast. In Zimbabwe they are bought warm from vendors at markets, bus stops and roadside stalls, packed into paper bags and eaten on the move, though they are at their best sitting down with a mug of sweet tea. They are close cousins of the South African vetkoek, and the family resemblance extends to the way nobody ever buys just one.

The dough is little more than flour, yeast, sugar and warm water, mixed loose and sticky so the insides stay light. That makes them an excellent first project in deep frying: forgiving dough, short cooking times and immediate applause. Eat them plain, split and filled with something savory, or with jam, and expect them to vanish somewhere around the second lap.

The dough

Ingredients

• 4 cups (500 g) all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (50 g) white sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (7 g, one packet) instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 2/3 cups (400 ml) warm water
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil

Frying

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 cups (1.5 to 2 liters) vegetable or sunflower oil

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