Mahamri (Swahili Coconut Cardamom Doughnuts)

Name: Mahamri (Swahili Coconut Cardamom Doughnuts)
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: West African
Ingredients: 450g plain flour; 2 tsp fast action dry yeast; 75g caster sugar; 1.5 tsp ground cardamom; 0.5 tsp salt; 200ml full fat coconut milk; 100ml warm water; 2 tbsp sunflower oil, for the dough; 1l sunflower oil, for deep frying

Puffy triangles of yeasted coconut dough with cardamom, fried until golden. Lovely with a hot cup of tea.

Time2 hr
LevelMedium
Costabout £0.37 a head

Cost is worked out from Aldi and Tesco shelf prices in October 2026. Your shop and brands will differ.

6 mahamri

Ingredients

Tick what you need to buy. It goes on your shopping list.

450 gplain flour
2 tspfast action dry yeast
75 gcaster sugar
1½ tspground cardamom
½ tspsalt
200 mlfull fat coconut milk
100 mlwarm water
2 tbspsunflower oilfor the dough
1 lsunflower oilfor deep frying

Method

1
Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, cardamom and salt in a bowl. Warm the coconut milk until just lukewarm and stir it in with the water and 2 tablespoons of oil.
2
Knead for 8 minutes until smooth and soft. Cover and leave in a warm place for 1 hour until doubled.
60 min
3
Divide the dough into 4 balls. Roll each into a circle about 1 cm thick and cut into 4 triangles. You should have 16.
4
Cover the triangles and rest for 20 minutes so they puff slightly.
20 min
5
Heat the oil in a deep pan to 175C. Fry 3 or 4 at a time for 3 minutes, turning once, until puffed and golden brown.
3 min
6
Drain on kitchen paper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Double check before you cook. Recipes can contain mistakes. Any diet labels come from the ingredients as written in this recipe and are a guide, not a guarantee. Always check every ingredient and the packet label for allergens and cross contamination, and ask your doctor or dietitian what is right for you, especially with coeliac disease, diabetes or a serious allergy. This is not medical advice.