Home-made Mandazi
Self-raising flour, sugar and eggs come together in this Kenyan breakfast — 90 minutes, 14 steps, and the kind of result worth repeating. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 14 steps.
You'll mainly reach for frying pan / skillet and large pot. At medium difficulty across 14 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- This is one recipe a lot of people have requested and I have tried to make it as simple as possible and I hope it will work for you.
- Make sure you use the right flour which is basically one with raising agents.
- Adjust the amount of sugar to your taste and try using different flavours to have variety whenever you have them.
- You can use Coconut milk instead of regular milk, you can also add desiccated coconut to the dry flour or other spices like powdered cloves or cinnamon.
- For “healthy looking” mandazis do not roll the dough too thin before frying and use the procedure I have indicated above.
- Mix the flour,cinnamon and sugar in a suitable bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk the egg into the milk
- Make a well at the centre of the flour and add the milk and egg mixture and slowly mix to form a dough.
- Knead the dough for 3-4 minutes or until it stops sticking to the sides of the bowl and you have a smooth surface.
- Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 1cm thick piece.
- Using a sharp small knife, cut the dough into the desired size setting aside ready for deep frying.
- Heat your oil in a suitable pot and gently dip the mandazi pieces to cook until light brown on the first side then turn to cook on the second side.
- Serve them warm or cold
You'll use: Frying pan / skillet · Large pot · Whisk · Deep fryer / pot
Ingredient substitutions
- Self-raising Flour
- 1 cup plain flour + 1½ tsp baking powder + ¼ tsp salt
- Eggs
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (baking) · 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water per egg
- Milk
- any unsweetened plant milk · ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water
What to serve with Home-made Mandazi
- Mbuzi Choma (Roasted Goat) Goat
- Kenyan Beef Curry Beef
- Sukuma Wiki Vegetarian
- Ugali – Kenyan cornmeal Breakfast
Tips & common questions
How long does Home-made Mandazi take to make?
About 90 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 14 steps and 4 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of self-raising flour?
Try 1 cup plain flour + 1½ tsp baking powder + ¼ tsp salt. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Home-made Mandazi vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Recipe data for Home-made Mandazi via TheMealDB (open database). Original source. Consomee adds the scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure — how we source recipes.