Fried Dough · Township Staple
Amagwinya (Fat Cakes)
Photo: Mutetisi N Evi / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
The same fried dough ball goes by different names depending on the vendor's language — amagwinya in Xhosa and Zulu communities, vetkoek on Afrikaans farm stalls — despite being essentially the same recipe.
Deep-fried dough balls with a crisp golden crust and a soft, chewy interior, sold plain or split and stuffed with polony, cheese, mince or apricot jam. Informal vendors sell them for as little as a few rand from carts and stalls throughout Soweto.
Why it's made this way: Related to the vetkoek carried by 19th-century Voortrekkers, amagwinya became a township staple in its own right — a cheap, filling, portable breakfast sold by hawkers to workers and schoolchildren every morning.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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