Not many tourists know the Turkish kind of donut called Pişi. And that’s pretty bad for pişi is something very special – delicious, greasy and a bit “sinful”. Although it’s pretty unhealthy, I can not help loving these little bandits. Maybe because they are a little “forbidden”. Maybe because I have only got them a few times, but certainly because they taste amazing with a little jam.
You usually eat turkish pişi for breakfast ( I’ve only gotten them this way). But they also go well for lunch, tea etc. You can actually make them with a little filling in – I’ll probably write that recipe at another time. Pişi tastes great with marmalade, nutella, sweet sugar or just without anything along with a regular breakfast buffet. At this point, pişi works a bit like our danish pastry bread.
Now it may sound like you just get a greasy lump of dough, that you have to consume (in Turkish, pişi is sometimes also called “Hamur kizartmasi” which is best translated into “fried dough”). And yes, it is, in principle, but then again no. For yes, the breads are fried in flavor-neutral oil. But if the oil has the right temperature, the loaves doesn’t suck up the oil, so they get wet and heavy.
Turkish pişi and limitations:
In general, it’s quite easy to bake in Turkey. In many places, you can just drop by the baker and buy perfectly homemade finished dough, ready for use. That’s pretty easy right?
The first time I saw it, was also the first time I tasted turkish pişi, and the first time I traveled alone with my mother-in-law on family visits to Turkey. One morning we were having a slightly bigger breakfast table. They had been at the bakery and bought dough, that just needed to be shaped and roasted.
Such a hot, freshly fried pişi with jam …… well it’s very good. However, the art is limiting, because it is not recommended to eat more than one or two per person (and yes, I speak of experience). But oh, that’s not always easy.
Be careful:
The only thing that can be a little tricky in making pişi is, that the dough must be both soft, nice and slightly elastic. And above all not too “hard” or shaped. That’s not quite like a regular bun dough, where you have to shape the buns carefully. However, the dough must not be so soft, that it just flows out, because then it will be difficult to raise and get fried properly. So it’s a bit of a balance, but not difficult.
And then the oil must be hot, before you get the breads in. Check by sticking the wood-end of a match into the oil. If it bubbles up the side, the oil is fine.
If you also put the loaves on a kitchen paper, when they are golden and finish, you will get rid of the worst grease from the frying.
See this article in Danish/ Læs artiklen på dansk her
Turkish Pişi – fried bread from the pan
Ingredienser
- 320 gram plain white flour
- 225 ml handluke water
- 25 gram fresh yeast, or 1 tbsp dry
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tbsp sugar
- oil for frying, neutral like grape seed oil
Sådan gør du
- 1: Dissolve the yeast into the water and mix it with flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. Mix the flour a little at a time2: Make sure the dough is soft and elastic so you can work with it. 3: Let the dough raise under plastic cover and a cloth over until it has approx. double size. It takes about one hour4: Heat the oil and divide the dough into about 15 mandarin-sized bowls. There must be about 2 cm oil in a pan (make sure that this level is kept even when you fry more buns)5: Bring some oil on the tabletop and your palms and press each bun flat (about ½ cm thick). Make sure to make a small hole in the middle with your fingers so that the bowl is easier to fried inside6: Fry about 2 buns at a time for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until they are golden7: Let them shortly drain on the kitchen paper and serve them immediately with marmalade, nutella or some sugar
Noter
- Make sure the dough is soft and compliant without becoming too stif and not elastic. Then you get a better pişi, that raises up, when you fry.
- Make sure the oil is warm enough before frying the buns. Otherwise, they will suck much oil and grow heavy and too greasy.
