Marshallese cooking lesson #2 - Donat (Donut)

Donat, donut, donaj, doughnuts.  Whatever name you want to give them they are basically the same thing.  Yummy pieces of sweet dough fried up in shortening.  Mmmm Mmmm!

Our amateurish attempt at making donat.  They tasted delicious, but their size wasn't quite uniform! Guess we need a little more practice.

Donat is similar to the American version of doughnut holes.  It's a round piece of slightly sweet soft dough that is dropped into hot shortening and then fried up to perfection.  What most interested me is the soft dough.  The dough is so soft that you cannot form it into the balls by rolling it in your hands the conventional way.  The ball is formed by putting a little bit of the dough into your hand.  Then, using a quick motion, you flip it about three times to get a good ball shape.  Then you just squeeze the dough from your hand as you drop it into the hot grease.  The balls are then cooked until nicely browned on the outside.  And, Voile! they are ready to eat!  No added toppings are necessary, no powdered sugar or frosting is added.  You just eat them as they are.  They have a slightly sweet taste, and are very addictive!

Sister Butler putting shortening in the pan to melt

Tania, our Marshallese friend and instructor

the dough is all ready and waiting for the shortening to get hot

Tania flipping the donat in her hand

cooking them to perfection!

Elder Becker waiting for a taste!

Sister Butler's turn at dropping the dough into the shortening

now it's my turn to try!

I think I got it!

Donuts are basically the same thing, only they are rolled out onto a board with a little flour and then are cut out into a circle with the top of a glass or lid, similar to the typical american doughnut.  A hole is then poked in the center of the cut out piece of dough, and then cooked up in the same way in the hot shortening.

The BEST way to eat donat is RIGHT after they are done.  HOT. FRESH. Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.  YUM, YUM!

Here is as close as I could come to a recipe.

Marshallese Donat or Donut

3 cups flour
6 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup water
pinch of yeast
1 tsp shortening

Mix together.  Add more water if needed to make a soft dough.
Fry in melted shortening over medium heat.
Donats are dropped into the grease by squeezing through the hand and making a ball.

A hit with Elder Becker!  They are disappearing fast!