Bambalouni

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gstrong white flour
• 7 ginstant yeast
• 1 tspsugar
• 1½ tsp salt
• 380 mlwarm water
• 2 tbspolive oil

To fry and finish

• 1.5 litressunflower oil
• 150 ggranulated sugar, in a wide bowl

Directions

1. Whisk the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, then work in the warm water and olive oil. The dough should be very wet and slack — much wetter than bread dough, closer to a thick batter you can just handle.
2. Knead it in the bowl by stretching and folding with a wet hand for 5 minutes, then cover and prove 2 hours until doubled and full of bubbles.
3. Heat the oil to 175°C (350°F) in a deep pan.
4. Wet your hands thoroughly. Pull off a handful of dough, and with wet fingers push a hole through the centre and stretch it into a rough ring about 12 cm across, thinner at the edges than in the middle.
5. Lower it into the oil. Fry 90 seconds a side, spooning oil over the top, until puffed, deeply golden and blistered.
6. Lift out, drain for a few seconds only, then drop straight into the bowl of sugar and turn to coat while still glistening. Sugar will not stick to a cooled doughnut.
7. Eat immediately, standing up, the way they are sold in Sidi Bou Saïd. They are good for about five minutes and disappointing after twenty.

Technique

• Wet hands, not floured. Flour on the surface burns in the oil and makes the ring heavy.
• The dough must be slack. A firm dough gives a bready ring rather than the hollow, airy shell that bambalouni should be.
• Do not let them drain long before sugaring. The residual oil is the glue.

Substitutions

• Honey instead of sugar, poured over rather than dipped.
• A pinch of orange zest in the dough, which some stalls add.

Variations

• Sfenj, the closely related Moroccan and Algerian fried ring.
• A version dusted with sugar and cinnamon.

History

Fried to order in the clifftop shops of Sidi Bou Said and rolled in sugar; it is the Tunisian form of the Maghrebi sfenj doughnut.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bambalouni?

Bambalouni is a street food from Tunisia: airy fried doughnut ring showered with sugar; Sidi Bou Said treat. Fried to order in the clifftop shops of Sidi Bou Said and rolled in sugar; it is the Tunisian form of the Maghrebi sfenj doughnut.

How long does Bambalouni take to make?

Bambalouni takes 20 min plus 2 hr rising of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 10 doughnuts. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Bambalouni?

Yes, within limits. Honey instead of sugar, poured over rather than dipped. A pinch of orange zest in the dough, which some stalls add.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bambalouni?

The dough must be slack. A firm dough gives a bready ring rather than the hollow, airy shell that bambalouni should be.