Shushumow (sweet fried-shell pastry)

This beloved dessert has several names: shushumow, kalkals and zinanaande. Its ingredients are pantry staples, and it is fried, then tossed in a simple sugar syrup.

Shushumow (sweet fried-shell pastry). Credit: Hardie Grant Books / Doaa Elkady

• serves

  6-8

• prep

  35 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

The shushumow are formed by shaping the pastry with any one of a range of tools. Either a brand new, sanitised afro pick or a gnocchi or shushumow board will allow you to make the classic elongated shushumow shape (in this recipe, I’m using an afro pick). People also use the back of a fork, a cheese grater, a colander, or whatever they might have on hand that will give the shushumow their characteristic ridged surface. Different tools make for slightly differently shaped shushumow. This crispy and sweet pastry is a perfect after-noon snack served with bitter qaxwo (coffee). Shushumow stores well for a few days, which makes it a great hostess gift to make in advance.

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 cups (256 g) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus more for dusting
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) canola oil, plus more for frying
• ¼ cup (60 ml) water
• 1 large egg
• 1½ tbsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt

Glaze

• ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
• ¼ cup (60 ml) water

Makes about 27 pieces

Instructions

1. To make the dough, combine the flour, canola oil, water, egg, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Stir together, then knead until a dough forms, about 5 minutes.
2. Generously flour a clean work surface. Pinch off a marble-sized piece of dough and roll it into a ball on the floured work surface. Flatten the ball against the tines of an afro pick, patting and stretching it out to a rough oval about 6.5 cm (2½ inches) long and 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide. Grasp one of the longer edges of the dough oval and start rolling it down to form a little cylinder with ridges from the pick’s tines in its surface. Set aside and repeat with the rest of the dough.
3. Pour 4 cm (1½ inches) of canola oil into a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Place a paper towel-lined baking sheet or plate beside the stove. Once the oil is shimmering, start adding the shushumow, stirring the oil in a circular motion so that they cook evenly. The shushumow are done when they are golden brown all around, 2 to 3 minutes. With tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the fried shushumow to the paper towel-lined plate or baking sheet.
4. To make the glaze, combine the sugar and water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Continue to boil the mixture until it reduces to a thick syrup, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat under the syrup and add the shushumow to the pot, tossing and stirring gently to coat them evenly in the syrup. Use a large spoon to carefully transfer the shushumow to another parchment paper-lined plate; they will harden as they sit. They can be eaten right away and will keep for 7 days in an airtight container.

This is an edited extract from Soomaaliya by Ifrah F. Ahmed (Hardie Grant Books). Food photography copyright © 2026 by Doaa Elkady

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.