Sfenj are very typical Moroccan donuts. There are several recipes for them. The traditional recipe mixes semolina with flour while the more modern ones - I don't know if this is the correct term - only use flour and are usually dusted or soaked in some sweet substance (icing sugar, honey etc).
Ther are many street vendors in Morocco selling sfenj.
INGREDIENTS :
- Half a kilo of flour (1.1 pound)
- Dry baker's yeast (necessary as indicated by the manufacturer for the amount of flour indicated, usually 2 tbsp)
- Half a liter (2 cups and a half) of warm water
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Icing sugar (optional)
- Sunflower oil
We place the flour in a large bowl. We make a hole and in it we add the yeast and a tablespoon of sugar. We add a little warm water and wait about ten minutes.
After time we add the rest of the water, little by little, continuing to knead. When we have a homogeneous dough, we let it rest for about three hours in a warm place.
Now we are going to make the donuts. It's as easy as scooping up some dough - the size of an egg - with your hands dipped in sunflower oil (so the dough doesn't stick) and rolling it into a ball.
Then we stretch it to make a large hole in the center - quite large because if not, when frying it, the dough will rise and close - and we add it directly to a pan with plenty of hot sunflower oil. Donuts should not touch each other and fry with a lot of bubbling.
When they are golden brown they are removed, they are placed on absorbent paper and if you want they are sprinkled with icing sugar. They are eaten hot.