Dun Dun Oniyeri is the Yoruba term for yam that has been sliced and cut length-wise into thick strips and further coated in an egg wash, before being fried. Yam that has been cut into strips and fried without the egg wash is simply Dun Dun. The yam is soft, yet firm enough to hold shape and has the taste and texture of slightly crispy fried potato wedges or thick cut chips. Yamarita/dun dun oniyeri is often served with a dipping sauce.

Yamarita on the other hand, is another term for Dun Dun Oniyeri. A reader requested Yamarita a while back and I had no clue what it was, so I asked a friend in Lagos and she said it was yam cut, coated in egg and fried. Now, to me that sounds very much like dun dun, so I asked yet another person and got the same response. I’d never heard of the term Yamarita while in Nigeria, until the request, so it was completely new to me. If someone knows of a deeper explanation of the origins and any differences, please share in the comments.

That said, Dun Dun Oniyeri or Yamarita is simply a spin on your traditional yam and egg dish. Instead of having them separately, why not have them in a slightly thicker chip/fry form and roll it all into one! It’s really easy to make and while yam is not something I eat on a regular basis, it provided a good switch up for a change. There are various ways to cook this, so be sure to read the notes section, if you’d like to try it a different way, this is just the basic recipe.

Requested Recipes are a series of posts geared towards recipes YOU’ve requested! Thanks to Brad for the request! If you’d like a particular recipe featured, let me know!

On to the recipe!

To make this, you’ll need the following:

Recipe Cost: $10.24 Prep: 30 mins Cook: 30-45 mins Difficulty: Beginner Serves: 1-2

• 1 m tuber of yam
• 2 m eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil

For Geisha Stew:

• 1 can geisha (in tomato sauce)
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp ground red pepper
• 1 serving spoon leftover stew (optional)

1. Cut yam into round slices

2. Peel skin off yam

 3. Start cutting yam slices into thick strips length-wise

3b. Keep cutting until you have all strips of yam

4. Rinse yam strips under cold running water, to rid of dirt and starch, till water runs relatively clear, drain water

5. Add yam to pot with clean water, enough to cover yam. Add 1/2 tsp salt

5b. Let yam boil over medium heat for 15 minutes till soft, yet firm enough to hold shape without breaking apart

6. Drain water, transfer boiled yam to dry bowl

7. Set yam aside to cool slightly, prepare egg wash, pre-heat oil in pan over medium heat

8. Break egg into bowl, add ground red pepper and salt

8b. Whisk egg

9. Add flour into a clean bowl along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Take one strip at a time, roll yam in flour

10. Dip flour coated yam into egg wash

11. Repeat steps #9 – #10 till all yam strips are fully coated

12. Begin frying coated yam strips over medium heat

12b. Fry for about 2-3 minutes per side, till golden brown

13. Once fried, transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel or napkin to absorb excess oil, sprinkle salt over it and shake up before serving

14. All done!

To make the geisha stew (My first recipe ever was this, but below are more photos to go with it)

1. Chop onions and saute in pan with vegetable oil

2. Add geisha from can into pan with onions

3. Use spoon to mash mackarel, add ground red pepper, let cook over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes

4. Add leftover stew if you have any and stir in. If not, you’re done!

Notes:

1. It’s important to partially pre-cook the yam because the yam won’t be soft enough if it’s just fried immediately. It’ll cook, but it won’t be cooked enough to be palatable.
2. Rolling the yam in flour serves to provide absorbency and crispness, depending on what method you’re using. For this basic method, the flour serves to absorb the oil to give that crisp coating. Another purpose is serves is to absorb any extra wetness/liquid from draining the yam after boiling, before frying. The flour also helps the yam brown better when frying.
3. This needs to be served immediately after frying and sprinkling some salt over it, otherwise it will lose it’s crispness and become limp.
4. You can twice fry dun dun oniyeri for maxium crispness. After frying once, remove from oil, drain excess oil on paper towel, increase heat to high and return yam into oil to fry for another 2-3 minutes per side.
5. You can bake these if you prefer. However, you don’t need to use the egg and flour. Instead, you’d use an oil and seasoning mix, gently coat the yam strips in the oil mix, put on a baking tray lined with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. Seasonings can be crushed knorr cubes and crushed red pepper, for added texture.
6. For the dipping sauce, you can use geisha stew, like I did, or corned beef stew, perhaps even regular stew.

Substitutes:

1. You can use corn oil for added crispness.
2. Don’t care for yam? Try regular or sweet potatoes

Serving Suggestions:

With geisha stew…

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Disclaimer:

The Recipe Cost of $10.24 is approximate for me in US dollars, but should be used an estimate only. Please keep price fluctuations & exchange rates in mind. If you’re based in the US, the grocery store(s) you frequent might have the same items cheaper or more expensive than what I purchased.

If you’re international, please keep in mind that exchange rates vary constantly. I recommend using this site to convert it from US dollars to your local currency. You might also have some of the ingredients at home already, thereby reducing the cost.

If you’d prefer to see an individual ingredient cost breakdown, let me know!

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Enjoy…

Reader Spotlight is a series of posts geared towards dishes you‘ve made following recipes from AvartsyCooking. I appreciate all of you and in an effort to give you some shine, not just in the comments where you share how you made such and such, you get to also share with me and everyone else, the photo of your finished dish!

To participate, all you need do is send clear photos of your finished dish, name of the AvartsyCooking recipe you followed and a little back story behind your making the dish to submit@avartsycooking.com

Kemi made Chicken Pies and did such a great job at it too, especially for her first attempt! She says:

Well I told u I was gonna make dis today and I jst did! Attached is d pix of d end result. I totally love d way d dough came bt d filling was a lil salty(my fault). I’m nt a curry person but I used it cos I wanted to follow d instruction completely. I used 1 regular potatoes and 2 Irish potatoes, 3 chicken wings, 3milk cups of flour and 9 spoons of Topper baking butter. I made meatpie during d xmas bt not ur method. I was misled in2 using baking powder for d dough and I didn’t rili like d end result. Will make meatpie wit ur method soon and I’ll let u knw d outcome. Thanks for doing this Yetty, I’m so grateful. 

I love that you’re so thrilled with your results, makes my heart smile! I think you did a really great job and I’m not just saying that just to say something nice :) My biggest issue with chicken/meat pies purchased at eateries is that there is usually more dough than filling and I can tell from your photo that is absolutely not the case. Two thumbs up for that hun!

I also see that you didn’t do the oh-so-typical-fork-to-seal-the-edges trick, so that gets a plus in my books. It’s also good that you know where you erred on the saltiness, so you know what to reduce next time you make it. It’s fine to follow the recipe exactly as it appears, but it’s also fine to make adjustments as you see fit.

The chicken pies look golden delicious and most importantly, chuck full of filling which seems to show an equal amount of potatoes to chicken, so yeah girl, you did that, all of it, awesome! Keep me posted on the outcome of the meat pies!

Reader Spotlight is a series of posts geared towards dishes you‘ve made following recipes from AvartsyCooking. I appreciate all of you and in an effort to give you some shine, not just in the comments where you share how you made such and such, you get to also share with me and everyone else, the photo of your finished dish!

To participate, all you need do is send clear photos of your finished dish, name of the AvartsyCooking recipe you followed and a little back story behind your making the dish to submit@avartsycooking.com

Asaro (Hi Yetunde, so I made my asaro for the first time and it came out perfect. I blended my peppers with one can of small tomato paste and after I added the yam and seasoning n maggi….I added sugar at the end and it gave it that taste I was looking for.)

Ayamashe (So I have been really busy…I made ayamashe over the weekend and it came out fabulous. I mixed palm oil and olive oil to cook it.)

Puff Puff (Hahaha….its me again. My final item for this weekend was puff puff. It was my second try…because the first time I made it, the gas was on too high so it got brown too fast and didn’t cook fully all the way in. Well this time I corrected that error and it was so good, my husband and I finished the whole dozen I made that same day..hot and fresh with malta on the side. Lollz)

Moi Moi (Lollz…yes o, I have been on a roll and my husband requested moin-moin yesterday so I consulted ur site and lo n behold, it came out perfecto…i feel like at this point, anything I make is gold.)

Moi moi and a bowl of garri, omg, I love this!

Temi, I’m so incredibly proud of you, you did amazing, you just wowed me. I always feel like a proud mom when I get such emails, it’s very touching *wipes tear in corner of eye* I’m being dramatic with that, but any readers success in the kitchen is why this site exists, so I thank you for taking the time to read through, cook, take photos and then send to me.

Like I said, you totally outdid yourself, pat on yourself on the back girl, you did that! I hope you stirred all that oil in thoroughly before serving it, I saw that and was like oh yeah, ‘wonderful pot of Yoruba soup!’ Olive oil loses its health benefits at high temperatures, so I’d suggest vegetable oil in its place. Moi moi and garri, omg, I just soaked some garium a few weeks back for the first time in forever and man, I kept asking why I didn’t do it more, lol!

Great job hun.

Nigerian doughnuts are in essence, jelly filled sugar doughnuts made from a combination of yeast, flour, sugar, amongst other ingredients. They are not to be confused with Puff Puff or Buns, which use similar ingredients, as the batter and dough of those recipes have different consistencies, thus yielding different results. These doughnuts are not as soft as Puff Puff and are closer in texture to buns; the donuts while soft, are slightly firm owing to their density with a bread like texture.

My earliest memories of eating doughnuts in Nigeria are at Mr.Biggs. I loved that place, I should just buy stock in there, since I’m so enamored by them! Their doughnuts were simply doughy balls of  deep fried, sticky, sugary deliciousness, I didn’t eat them as much as I ate their chicken pies, but I sure did love those donuts.

They came with a light dusting of granulated white sugar and had a red jelly filled center, which sometimes didn’t go all the way through or you’d sometimes receive such a scant amount of jelly that you became annoyed. I mean, the entire purpose of getting the donut was to get to the jelly! I remember a friend that would nibble around the doughnut, so the jelly center would be the final treat, a mess, lol!

Instead of using jelly, I made a strawberry reduction sauce to fill the center and used some of the liquid from the sauce to glaze the doughnuts to help the sugar stick better. Sugar overload, I tell you and it does nothing for your waistline, but expand it *heavy sigh* it was delicious though ;0

These doughnuts are loaded with sugar, so if you’re pre-diabetic or diabetic or just health conscious, read the notes below on how to make healthier versions. (Is it weird that I love the smell of yeast once it starts to work its magic in dough? Yes? No? Oh well, I love it *inhales deeply*)

These are relatively simple to recreate, the only fussy bit is having to wait, not once, but twice, for the dough to rest. If you’ve ever attempted chicken pies, puff puff or buns, this should be a breeze for you, no lie!

To learn how to make Nigerian Doughnuts, here’s what you’ll need:

Recipe Cost: $12.60 Prep: 1 hr 45 mins Cook: 30 mins Difficulty: Intermediate Yield: 6-8 donuts

• 2 cups/250g plain white flour
• 1 packet active dry yeast OR 1.5 tsps
• 3 tbsps/ 40 g butter/margarine
• 3-4 tbsps/35-40 g light brown sugar
• 4 tbsps/40 g granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup/120 ml milk
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

For strawberry filling:

• 8 m/l fresh strawberries
• 2 tbsps granulated white sugar
• 1-1.5 cups water

1. Add flour, salt and yeast to a dry bowl

2. Stir together with a whisk or spoon. Add room temperature butter to flour

3. Use finger tips to work butter into flour till it looks crumbly. Add light brown sugar

4. Stir together with a whisk or spoon. Make a well/hole in center of flour, add egg in

5. Add warm milk to egg

6. Use a whisk or spoon to start mixing till it starts to stiffen

7. Switch to your hands and work dough till it starts to come together

8. Keep working dough until it becomes smooth with no lumps

9. Holding dough in one hand, rub around bowl with some butter, return dough to bowl, cover and let rest for 1 hour in a warm place

10. After 1 hour, dough should have doubled in size. Add some flour to a surface and rolling pin

11. Begin rolling out dough to the thickness of your smallest finger

12. Using a cookie cutter or water bottle lid (below), start cutting out circles in dough

13. Cut out as many circles as you can

14. As you cut out the circles, transfer them to a tray sprinkled with flour and sprinkle some flour atop dough

14b. Roll up any scraps you have and finish cutting

15. Cover tray with foil or cling film and let dough rise to almost double in size for 30-45 minutes in a warm place

16. While waiting for dough to rise, start heating up your oil and making the strawberry reduction sauce

17. One time has elapsed, start adding doughnuts to hot oil

18. Let fry up to a minute per side till golden brown

19. Finish frying all donuts and set aside on a paper towel to drain excess oil

20. Once strawberry sauce has cooled, pour into a piping/icing bag

21. Use a knife to create a center inside the doughnut

22. Insert icing tip into doughnut and fill with strawberry sauce, then set aside

23. Once filled, roll doughnuts in strawberry liquid (please see notes below ; apologies for the harsh yellow)

24. Roll glazed doughnut in granulated white sugar, set aside

25. You, my friend, just made some Nigerian doughnuts!

26. Texure shot

Notes:

1. To get the strawberry glaze, once the strawberries start boiling, the liquid will start turning red, before it starts to thicken up, spoon up some of the red liquid and set aside
2. If you don’t have a piping/icing bag, you can use the edge of a ziploc/nylon bag. However, this method might not get sufficiently get enough of the sauce down the center of the donut.
3. I used the British spelling (doughnut) and the American spelling (donut) interchangeably.
4. Ensure the strawberries are mushy enough to pass through the tip of the bag or you might run into some difficulty there.
5. You can add some vanilla or cinnamon powder to the sugar you roll the donuts in if you’d like.
6. Have your butter/margarine sitting out so it becomes room temperature
7. Try not to add too much sugar to the dough as there’s already sugar in the filling and it’s being rolled in more sugar!
8. It’s fine if you don’t have a cookie cutter, just be sure to use a drinking glass or small bowl/lid that is not too small nor too wide.
9. The dough rests twice, once after kneading and again, after cutting.
10. The donuts were fried at 375 degrees F/190 degrees C.
11. Be sure not to overcrowd when frying the doughnuts, 2-3 at a time till you’re done. This, depending on how big your pot or fryer is.
12. As you insert the knife into the donut to create the center, wiggle it a bit to make enough room for the filling. Also ensure that the tip of the knife does not come out on the other end.
13. All your doughnuts may not be the same shape and size, this is okay. Your filling might not go all the way through either, this is also okay, nothing to fret about.
14. Glazing the donut is optional, I think it helps the sugar stick better, although you will have some that the sugar dissolves into the surface of the doughnut. I ran out of sugar towards the end, so some might look sparse on the sugar side.

Substitutions:

1. I used light brown sugar, but you can use dark brown or granulated white sugar.
2. You can use any kind of oil you’d like, except peanut or palm oil.
3. You can use confectioners/powdered sugar in place of granulated white sugar.

Healthy Nigerian Doughnuts:

1. Bake instead of deep frying (you’d want more of a batter instead of a dough, for a lighter texture)
2. Use coconut palm sugar to replace white or brown sugar
3. Use refined coconut oil to fry
4. Use whole wheat flour, whole grain flour or coconut flour

Serving Suggestions:

Honey, just eat it, like I did, standing at the stove once I was done, oohing and silently moaning at how good it was and bemoaning myself for eating something so sinful!

Enjoy…

I’ve jumped on the Kale bandwagon! I plan to use it in place of Spinach in vegetable soups. Not sure if you can find it in Nigeria or what it will be called if you do find it, but take a look at the photo in the above image and have it in mind the next time you to the market.

If you can’t find Kale, any good ol’ leafy green vegetable will work in your diet, still better than nothing!

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