Mandazi

Name: Mandazi
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Kenya
Ingredients: 450 g plain flour; 80 g sugar; 1½ tsp baking powder; 1 tsp ground cardamom; ½ tsp salt; 250 ml coconut milk; 3 tbsp neutral oil, for the dough; Zest of 1 orange; Neutral oil, for frying

East African fried triangles made with coconut milk and cardamom, barely sweet, pillowy and fragrant.

Published on 20 March 2026·Updated on 10 September 2026

Vegan#fried dough#cardamom#coconut#teatime#snack

Photo: Orrling , CC BY-SA 3.0

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 20 min
Total: 45 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium

Method

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom, salt and orange zest in a large bowl.
Pour in the coconut milk and oil, then bring the dough together by hand; it should be supple and barely tacky.
Knead for 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface until smooth, then cover and rest for 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into three balls and roll each out into a disc about 1 cm thick.
Cut each disc into four triangles, like slices of a pie, and let them rest on the counter for 10 minutes.
Heat the oil to 165°C and fry the mandazi for 2 to 3 minutes a side, spooning hot oil over them so they puff evenly.
Drain on a rack and serve warm, at breakfast or with tea.

Mandazi go with morning tea from Tanzania to Kenya and travel well in a market bag. Oil that is too hot browns them before the inside cooks, so fry patiently at a moderate temperature.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

This recipe also appears in

Vegan recipes

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 704 kcal
Protein: 13 g
Fat: 24.7 g
Carbohydrate: 108.9 g
Fibre: 3.4 g

An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.

Frequently asked questions

Why fry mandazi at 165C rather than hotter?

They are thick doughnuts: oil that is too hot browns the outside before the centre sets, and they come out raw inside. At a moderate temperature they puff evenly and cook through in two to three minutes a side.

What can replace the coconut milk?

Ordinary milk or a plant drink will make a workable dough, but you lose the richness and aroma that define mandazi, and the crumb is less tender. If all you have is light coconut milk, add an extra spoonful of oil to the dough.

What is the ten-minute rest after cutting for?

It relaxes the gluten stretched during rolling, so the triangles do not shrink back as they hit the oil and they rise better. It is a small step that makes a clear difference to how light they are.

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