This Christmas, whip up this easy, delicious snack that the whole family will love. Kaimati is a traditional fried dumpling coated with sweet vanilla syrup. This indulgent treat is a popular dessert and snack among Swahili and Bajuni communities in Kenya- we received this recipe straight from one of our Kenyan sites!
Kaimatis get their unique flavour from the method of how yeast is combined with the flour. This recipe serves a family of four, but can be doubled for parties or for families with a sweet tooth.
For the dough:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups water
- ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. cardamom powder
- 1¼ tbsp. yeast, dry
- 4 tbsp. sugar
- 5 ¼ cups cooking oil
Directions:
- Place yeast in a small bowl and combine with 3 tablespoons of warmed water.
- Add sugar to the yeast mixture and allow to stand for 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, warm the rest of the water in a cooking pot on medium heat. Do not boil!
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, cardamom and vanilla extract in a bowl.
- Add ¼ cup of oil into the mixture and rub in until finely absorbed
- Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, and then gradually add the lukewarm water while gently mixing to form a dough.
- Cover the dough with a dry towel/ cloth and allow to stand for 4 minutes until the dough rises.
- In a deep pan, put the rest of the oil and heat on medium-high heat for 7 minutes or until the oil bubbles when a pinch of dough is dropped in the oil.
- Shape the dough into round, bite sized balls. Place the balls into the hot oil and fry for 3-4 minutes. Keep turning to cook evenly.
- Remove the balls from oil and place on a plate or baking sheet to cool.
For the vanilla syrup:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup water
- ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
Directions:
- Combine sugar, water and vanilla extract in a frying pan.
- Simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir regularly to prevent sugar from sticking to the sides of the pan; the mixture should be sticky.
- Add the fried dumplings to the sugar syrup and stir to coat them in the syrup while still on the heat. Swirl until the syrup covers all the dumplings.
- Place on a large plate or serving tray to slightly cool, and then serve. Enjoy!
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