Alkaki recipe

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Alkaki is a very sweet and popular northern Nigerian snack. It is very sweet because it is soaked in lemon syrup and the syrup moisten the snack as it is absorbed by the snack. Alkaki is a famous party snack and also a street food. It is made with whole wheat grain that is processed in a certain way that gives the snack a unique texture. I used other forms of wheat to create this recipe because whole wheat grain is not available where I live. But that did not alter the taste or the texture. So feel free to use whole wheat grain if you can find it.

• Blend wheat couscous or whole wheat grain until fine coarse.
• In a bowl add wheat couscous, wheat germ, wheat flour and mix to combine.
• Add a packet of yeast, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, gradually add warm water and mix to combine. The warm water activates the yeast and the yeast feed on the sugar. Knead for about 7 minutes to form a ball of dough.
• When the ball of dough is formed, cover the bowl and put in a warm place for 1 hour to proof the yeast.The dough will rise slightly because of the quantity of water used. If you want it to rise significantly, add more water.
• While the dough is resting, make the simple lemon syrup for glaze.
• In a pan, add sugar and water and cook it over medium heat for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and throw in the rind to simmer for another 5 minutes or more. The lemon flavor the syrup, prevents crystallization of the sugar when the syrup cools down and thickens the syrup because of the high pectin content it has. 
• After 5 minutes, remove the syrup from heat and allow to cool. Once it cools, the syrup would thicken up and look more syrupy.
• After 1 hour, pound the dough in mortar for at least 5 minutes and add a little bit of warm water to moisten and soften the dough.
• Transfer the dough to a work surface an cut dough into smaller sizes.
• Roll each piece of dough into a rope, then holding both ends of the rope, fold and twist both ends over each other (as if tying a rope), then press the ends together to form an infinity design.
• Once done, cover and let them rest for about 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, heat up some vegetable oil on medium heat to deep fry the alkaki. Fry the alkaki in the hot oil for about 5 minutes or until you have achieved your desired shade of golden brown, flipping the alkaki on each side.
• Soak the alkaki in the simple lemon syrup for as long as you want. The longer it is soaked in the syrup, the more syrup would be absorbed .

Ingredients

• 1 cup wheat couscous
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 packet instant yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1  1/4 cup warm water

Simple lemon syrup

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 large lemon

Sometimes it is not easy to find some ingredients in some locations because those ingredients might not be locally available. So it is very important to use substitute ingredients that would not alter the taste or change the texture. Steel-cut oats is a very good substitute for whole wheat grain when making alkaki. The steel-cut oats have the same texture of split whole wheat grain and does not change the taste of the snack. Alkaki is a very popu

• Blend/grind steel-cut oats or whole wheat grain until fine coarse. 
• In a bowl add steel-cut oats,  wheat flour and mix to combine.
•  Add a packet of yeast, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, gradually add warm water and use a dough mixer to mix to combine. The warm water activates the yeast and the yeast feed on the sugar. Mix for about 7 minutes to form a ball of dough. 
• When the ball of dough is formed, cover the bowl and put in a warm place for 1 hour to proof the yeast.The dough will rise slightly because of the quantity of water used. If you want it to rise significantly, add more water. 
• While the dough is resting, make the simple lemon syrup for glaze. 
• In a pan, add sugar and water and cook it over medium heat for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and throw in the rind to simmer for another 5 minutes or more. The lemon flavor the syrup, prevents crystallization of the sugar when the syrup cools down and thickens the syrup because of the high pectin content it has.  
• After 5 minutes, remove the syrup from heat and allow to cool. Once it cools, the syrup would thicken up and look more syrupy. 
• After 1 hour, Use a dough mixer to beat/mix the dough or pound the dough in mortar for at least 5 minutes and add a little bit of warm water to moisten and soften the dough. 
• Transfer the dough to a work surface an cut dough into smaller sizes. Roll each piece of dough into a rope, then holding both ends of the rope, fold and twist both ends over each other (as if tying a rope), then press the ends together to form an infinity design. Once done, cover and let them rest for about 30 minutes. 
• After 30 minutes, heat up some vegetable oil on medium heat to deep fry the alkaki. Fry the alkaki in the hot oil for about 5 minutes or until you have achieved your desired shade of golden brown, flipping the alkaki on each side. 
• Soak the alkaki in the simple lemon syrup for as long as you want. The longer it is soaked in the syrup, the more syrup would be absorbed .

Ingredients 

• 1  1/2 cup Steel-cut oats 
• 1 cup wheat flour 
• 1 packet instant yeast 
• 1 tbsp sugar 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
• 1  cup warm water

Simple lemon syrup

•  1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 cup water 
• 1/2 large lemon