Shakoy

A twisted yeasted dough fried slowly and rolled in sugar, chewy rather than crisp.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter).

Ingredients

• 500 g plain flour
• 7 g fast-action yeast
• 80 g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 40 g butter, soft
• 1 egg
• 230 ml warm water
• 150 g caster sugar, for rolling
• oil, for deep frying

Method

1. FRIED SLOWLY, AT 160C, which is lower than frying usually wants. This is a yeasted dough 2 cm thick and it has to cook through to the middle; at 180C the outside is mahogany while the centre is raw, and a raw centre in a twist like this is unmistakable.
2. Yeast, the 80 g of sugar and the warm water, 10 minutes until foaming.
3. Flour, salt, egg and butter in. Knead 10 minutes to a smooth firm dough.
4. Prove covered 1 hour 15, until well doubled.
5. Knock back and divide into 16. Roll each into a rope 25 cm long and even along its whole length -- a thin spot cooks through and burns while the thick end is still doughy.
6. THE TWIST: hold both ends, twist the rope hard in opposite directions until it begins to kink, then bring the ends together and let it fold back on itself. Pinch the joint.
7. Second prove 25 minutes on an oiled tray. Only 25 -- over-proved, the twist relaxes and fries flat.
8. Fry at 160C, three at a time, 3 minutes a side, turning once. They should be an even deep gold.
9. Lift one out and break it open to check the first batch. The crumb should be open and dry, not glossy.
10. Drain 2 minutes, then roll in the remaining sugar while still warm. Cold, the sugar will not stick; straight out of the oil, it melts and runs off.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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