Pişi - Turkish Fried Dough - Cooking Gorgeous

5 from 1 vote

Pişi - Turkish Fried Dough

Pişi is a Turkish fried dough you’ll often find at breakfast tables next to tea, olives, and jam.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

resting time1 30

Total Time1 55

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: Middle Eastern, Turkish

Diet: Halal, Low Lactose, Vegetarian

Servings: pieces

Calories: 324kcal

Mix warm liquid (milk, water, or both) plus sugar and yeast. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until foamy / bubbling (shows yeast is alive).
Combine flour and salt, then add the yeast-liquid mix to the flour.
Stir until roughly combined; then knead by hand for a few minutes. The dough will be sticky to start with, but don't be tempted to add more flour. You can use a little flour to clean the dough sticking to your hands.
Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover (with plastic wrap or a damp cloth). Let it rest for 15 minutes.
After resting the dough, start stretching and folding, just like when making Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread. To do the stretch-and-fold method, wet your hands and grab the dough from the bottom of the bowl. Stretch it upwards and fold it over itself. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the process. Do this four times, so you've done a full rotation.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rest for 15 minutes. Repeat the stretch-and-fold method two more times, with 15-minute rests in between each round. After the last stretch-and-fold, let the dough rest for another 15 minutes.

Gently punch the dough down to release large air pockets.
Then divide into five equal pieces. You can make all plain or a mixture of plain and filled with cheese.
For the plain ones, just shape into a smooth ball or a slightly flattened round. For the filled ones, flatten the dough piece, place a couple of spoonfuls of the cheese-herb mix in the center, then fold and seal the edges well so it doesn’t leak when frying.
After shaping, cover the pieces (a damp cloth helps) and let rest / prove for another 20–30 minutes until puffed. Optionally, you can press a finger in the centre (indent) to help more even frying.
Heat oil in a deep pan or fryer to about 175–185 °C (roughly 350–365 °F). Use a thermometer. You can test the temperature by dropping in a small piece of dough; it should sizzle and rise slowly to the surface.
Lower a few pieces into the oil without crowding the pan. Fry until one side turns golden, then gently flip and cook the other side.
Each piece will take two to four minutes. Lift them out and drain on paper towels.
Pişi tastes best right after frying, when the inside is still tender and the outside is lightly crispy.

Always check oil temperature. If it’s too low, the dough soaks up oil and becomes greasy; if too hot, the exterior burns before the inside is cooked.
Fry in small batches so the oil temperature doesn’t drop too much.
Test one piece first to see color and timing before doing the full batch.
Seal the filled ones tightly; gaps let cheese leak and burn.
If the inside of the dough seems undercooked, lower the heat slightly and fry a bit longer; also, ensure the dough isn’t too thick.