Sweet Congolese fried dough balls — golden, pillowy, and dusted with sugar — for breakfast with tea.

Where does Mikate come from?

Mikate is a Congolese dish from Kinshasa, DR Congo.

Can Mikate be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Mikate recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Mikate take to make?

About 40 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 6.

Mikate — a Kinshasa, DR Congo recipe

Name: Mikate
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Congolese
Ingredients: 3 cups flour; 1/3 cup sugar; 2 tsp yeast; as needed warm water; 1 or a scrape mashed ripe banana or nutmeg (optional); as needed oil for frying; a pinch a pinch of salt

Africa → 🇨🇩 DR Congo → Kinshasa

Mikate

Congolese · easy · serves 6

prep 20 min · cook 20 min

~293 cal · 7g protein · 64g carbs · 1g fat (estimated, per serving)

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Golden fried dough balls dusted with sugar

🇨🇩 Kinshasa

Mikate are the fried dough balls of the Congo, cousins of West Africa's puff-puff, made from a lightly sweet yeast batter dropped into hot oil until golden and airy. Sold from big pans on Kinshasa street corners each morning, they are eaten warm with tea or coffee, sometimes flavored with banana or nutmeg.

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Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 6 —

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3 cups flour

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1/3 cup sugar

•

2 tsp yeast

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as needed warm water

•

1 or a scrape mashed ripe banana or nutmeg (optional)

•

as needed oil for frying

•

a pinch a pinch of salt

Instructions

1

Whisk the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, optional banana, and warm water into a thick batter.

2

Cover and let it rise until bubbly and doubled.

3

Heat oil for deep-frying.

4

Drop rounded spoonfuls in and fry, turning, until deep golden and puffed.

5

Drain and dust with sugar; serve warm with tea.

Kinshasa tradition.

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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

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Kinshasa. The megacity on the river, powered by pondu and rumba.

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DR Congo. The Congo basin, where cassava leaves feed a nation.

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Africa. Fifty-four countries of tagines, stews, and fire-kissed grills.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

👩‍🍳

Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →