Tunisian · Breakfast

Ftair

Rings of yeasted dough fried until they blister and puffed hollow, then dusted with sugar. Breakfast, and best eaten within about four minutes of leaving the oil.

45 min prep and cooking plus 1 hr proving the dough 1 hr 45 min start to finish Serves 6 servings Medium
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AI-generated illustration of Ftair

Image note: Illustration, generated by AI · not a photograph of this dish

The hole in the middle is functional. Without it the centre of the ring stays raw while the outside browns, because a solid disc of wet dough simply cannot cook through in the time the surface can survive. Stretch each ring until the hole is genuinely large — it will close considerably as the dough puffs. Sugar goes on while they are hot and greasy, which is the only time it sticks.

Questions About Ftair

How long does Ftair take to make?

25 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour of proving the dough, so allow 1 hour 45 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.

Ftair: Step by Step

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  1. Mix the flour, semolina, yeast, sugar and salt, then work in the water and oil to a soft, wet dough.

  2. Knead 8 minutes with a scraper rather than adding flour. Cover and prove 60 minutes until doubled and bubbly.

  3. Heat the frying oil to 175°C / 345°F.

  4. With oiled hands, pull off a ball of dough the size of a lime and flatten it.

  5. Push your thumb through the middle and stretch the ring until the hole is about 5 cm across — it closes as it fries.

  6. Lower two at a time into the oil and fry 3 minutes, turning once, until deep gold, puffed and hollow.

  7. Drain briefly on a rack and toss in the caster sugar while still hot. Eat immediately.

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Worth Getting Right

  • A big hole. It closes as it puffs, and a closed one stays raw.
  • Oiled hands, not floured ones.
  • Sugar while hot, or it will not stick.

Pairs Well With

Sweet mint tea · Bsissa · Honey

Keeping and Reheating

None to speak of. They are stale within a few hours and cannot be revived.

What's in a Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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Compiled by Turab

Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.

First published ; last changed .