MY SWEET COCONUT PUFFIES (Puff puff)

I love to cook a whole lot but this past sunday I didn't do much cooking. Really didn't feel up to it for some personal reasons. I'm going to be needing a lot of self psyching for the next few weeks.

Made an effort the previous day before letting myself slump into a not-so-good mood. 

Started out with some coconut puffs....inspired by the so much loved Nigerian Puff puff. Had some lil cuties I wanted to send some over to. Got an awesome feedback too.
My son Ethan loved the puffies as well. I'm so glad he's beginning to try some new things. Had refused to try such breadlike textures in the past. Maybe because we had kept him away from pastries all these while because of his egg allergy.
The coconut puffs were really nice...tried it with the desiccated coconut shreds and replace water with coconut milk and some cinnamon. This combination of flavor packs a punch. Not for weight watchers cos it's eat one, want more.;-).

Then for Saturday lunch, I made some Spaghetti with canned plum tomatoes(thanks to scarcity), chicken strips and some diced up Russian sausages left over from the previous weekend....nothing goes to waste in my home.;-).

Also made some sticky lamb chops to go with our Lunch. Made them with mixed seasoning and as usual panseared them before coating with barbecue sauce and sweet chilli sauce before grilling them.

Spiced up some smoked chicken chunks for in between snacking....You should try smoked chicken. Really lovely. I didn't smoke it myself. Bought it off the deparmental store shelf already smoked and salted...then did justice to it with my own blend of seasoning and onions.

Then finally on Sunday morning, made some Chicken gizzard assortment A.K.A Gizdodo or Dodorishi (Dodo with orishirishi) and we had that with the previous days leftover pasta.
Try the Gizdodo. ..your kids will love it.
I always improvise when i'm out of some stuff. couldn't get my sweet bell peppers over the weekend so just deseeded the big chilis i had, chopped them up with the readily available green pepper and used in place of my red and yellow bellpeppers. the important thing is to give colour to the food and some heat too, Lol.

Had the traditional boiled rice and Goatmeat and kpomo(Cow hide) stew for our Sunday lunch. and because I was determined not do any real cooking, I used our leftover stew from a previous week so the goatmeat and cow hide were super tender and properly infused with the stew....mouthwatering innit? :-D

So for every post will share atleast one recipe. 
Just leave a comment if you try it and enjoyed it.

MY RECIPE FOR COCONUT PUFFS...

INGREDIENTS.

*2¼-teaspoon active dry yeast (1 packet)
*1/2 cup of sugar (or less for weight watchers).
*1 teaspoon salt
*About 1&1/2 cups of coconut milk (You can still use coconut powder if you can't get the milk. In that case, still use liquid milk for the mixture)...you'll have a nicely rich mixture.  
*1/4 cup of warm water or less.
*3 cups of all purpose flour
*1/2 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
*1  teaspoon of Cinnamon. 
*A teaspoon of vanilla powder or I spoons of liquid vanilla essence. 
*Sweetened desiccated coconut shreds...about 1/2 a cup
* Veggie Oil for deep-frying
*Some fine sugar (confectioner's sugar or icing sugar) for dusting the puffies after frying. 

INSTRUCTIONS. 

1. In a small bowl add the warm water, a teaspoon of sugar, and yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes...should bubble up to show yeast is alive.

2. In another bowl, Sieve your flour. Add the cinnamon, vanilla powder,  nutmeg, coconut milk powder (if that's what you are using) and half a teaspoon of salt.

3. Then add  the activated yeast  plus liquid milk or coconut milk and mix with a wooden spoon. Mix well and ensure the dry mixes with the wet properly.

4. Set the mixture in a warm area and cover with a kitchen napkin or clingfilm and let it rise (double in size) for approximately 1- 2 hours. 
I prefer the clingfilm as it's see-through and you can monitor the mixture without opening severally and thus prevent interfering with the rising process. You'll see the mixture bubbling up at the top once the mixture is ready. ..this is the tricky part. If you don't get it right , you will have a bun instead of a puff.

5. Once the mixture has doubled in size, sprinkle the desiccated coconut and mix minimally to preven making the risen mixturefall (lol, complicated English huh?)

6. In a large, sauce pan or a wok, pour a good quantity of vegetable oil, until it is atleast 3 inches deep (or about 5 centimeters) high (too little will result in flatter balls), and place on medium heat.

*The dough is going to be sticky so use your hands to grab a little bit of mixture at time and drop in the oil or use a spoon to spoon up the batter, and another spoon or spatula to push it into the oil, forming the shape of a lil ball. The hand works better too but not for a 1st timer. (I used to use my cookie scoop but not anymore)
*Do not overcrowd the pan.

7. Fry in batches....Fry for a few minutes until the bottom side is golden brown.Turn the ball over and fry for a few more minutes until the other side is golden brown. Most of the time, they'll turn themselves if the texture is right...you just watch them flip over as they get done.

*Use a large perforated spoon  to scoop them out of the oil.

8. place them on paper napkins right away to soak up the excess oil.

Take out the napkins after a few minutes, then sprinkle your fine sugar on the puffies and flip them up and down in a bowl...just to ensure the sugar touches all your puff balls.

Serve with a glass of fresh juice or cocoa beverage.

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