Priganice

Ingredients

The dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 350 mlwarm water
• 7 gdried yeast
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 1 teaspoonsugar

Sometimes added

• 150 mlyoghurt
• in place of some water
• 1 tablespoonrakija
• for crispness

To fry

• oil, for deep frying
• a deep heavy pot

To serve

• honey, to pour
• kajmak or fresh cheese
• pršut, sliced
• jam

Directions

1. Cool oil soaks into the dough. Hot oil seals the outside immediately. Warm the water gently in a jug. Stir the yeast and sugar into it. Let it stand there for ten minutes. The yeast should foam up visibly. Discard it and start again if not. It costs ten minutes to be certain. Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the yeast water to the flour.
2. Bring it together into a thick batter. It should be thick and quite sticky. Beat the batter well with a spoon. That helps it hold in the steam. Add a spoonful of rakija to the batter. Alcohol evaporates fast in hot oil.
3. Cover the bowl and leave it somewhere warm. Give it about one whole hour there. Pour the oil into a deep heavy pot. Fill it no more than half full. Heat it to about one hundred and eighty degrees. A deep pot of hot oil is genuinely dangerous. Keep a lid nearby to smother a flare-up. Never put water on an oil fire at all.
4. Keep children well away from the pot. Drop a small piece of batter in. It should rise and sizzle immediately. Adjust the heat before the batch. Shaping them is done with spoons. Take a spoonful of the batter. The batter is too loose to shape by hand.
5. Dip the spoons in oil so it releases. Some cooks use a wet hand instead. Make them small rather than large. About walnut sized is about right. Work in small batches instead. They also need room to turn over.
6. Turn them once they are golden below. Give them about two minutes a side. Tear the first one open to check. The inside should be cooked through. Fry them for longer if it is not. Lift them out onto a wire rack. Let all the excess oil drip away. That softens them within minutes.
7. Pile them all onto a warm plate. Pour honey generously over them. Do it while they are still hot. Serve kajmak or fresh cheese alongside. Add slices of prsut alongside it. It is thick, salty and slightly sour.

Technique

• The batter is deliberately loose and sticky rather than a kneadable dough — it should drop slowly from a spoon without holding its shape, because a stiff dough gives a dense fritter where a loose batter puffs properly. It is spooned into the oil with two spoons dipped in oil so it releases.
• Water in the dough turns to steam and inflates each puff into a hollow ball while the outside sets around it. Hot oil at about one hundred and eighty degrees makes that happen: cool oil soaks in, and one that comes out heavy rather than almost empty means the oil was not hot enough.
• A deep pot of hot oil is genuinely dangerous. Fill it no more than half full, never leave it unattended, lower the batter in gently, keep a lid nearby to smother a flare-up, never put water on an oil fire and keep children away.

Substitutions

• Replacing some of the water with yoghurt gives a tangier softer puff and tenderises the dough; some households do and some do not, and both are genuinely made.
• A spoonful of rakija in the batter is a genuine regional trick: the alcohol evaporates fast in hot oil, creating extra steam and crispness and reducing oil absorption slightly.

Variations

• The dough is barely sweetened, which is deliberate — it lets them go sweet with honey or savoury with kajmak and pršut, and both are equally traditional.
• Pour the honey over while they are still hot so it soaks in; cold ones just have honey sitting on top.
• Make them about walnut sized, since they swell considerably in the oil and large ones stay raw in the middle.

History

Small fried dough balls served with honey, cheese and prosciutto, a breakfast and hospitality food of the coast.

Frequently asked questions

What is Priganice?

Priganice is a snack from Montenegro: fried dough puffs served with honey or cheese. Small fried dough balls served with honey, cheese and prosciutto, a breakfast and hospitality food of the coast.

How long does Priganice take to make?

Priganice takes 20 minutes plus rising of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 puffs. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Priganice?

Yes, within limits. Replacing some of the water with yoghurt gives a tangier softer puff and tenderises the dough; some households do and some do not, and both are genuinely made. A spoonful of rakija in the batter is a genuine regional trick: the alcohol evaporates fast in hot oil, creating extra steam and crispness and reducing oil absorption slightly.

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

Cover the bowl and leave it somewhere warm. Give it about one whole hour there. Pour the oil into a deep heavy pot. Fill it no more than half full. Heat it to about one hundred and eighty degrees. A deep pot of hot oil is genuinely dangerous. Keep a lid nearby to smother a flare-up. Never put water on an oil fire at all.