Donut Balls

Donut balls are small round doughnuts made from a batter that is mixed and fried immediately, with no proving stage at all. That absence is the whole point of the recipe, and the source draws the comparison directly: unlike puff puff, this needs no resting time. Puff puff is yeast-raised, which means an hour or more of waiting while the dough rises. These use a chemically raised batter, so the time from deciding to make them to eating them is about fifteen minutes. The name has a history worth knowing. Traditionally, doughnut holes were made from the dough cut out of the centre of ring doughnuts, a by-product rather than a product, fried alongside the rings so nothing was wasted. They became popular enough in their own right that they are now made deliberately. They are finished however you like: rolled in sugar, dipped in chocolate ganache, glazed, or filled. **Filed as Worldwide.** This is a Western doughnut recipe rather than an African dish, though it sits close to puff puff, which is genuinely West African and is the better comparison.