Picarones

Instructions

1. 1 Boil the squash and sweet potato cubes in water for twenty minutes until very soft. Drain, reserving a quarter cup of the cooking water. Mash the vegetables together until completely smooth with no lumps, then let cool to lukewarm.
2. 2 Dissolve the yeast in the warm reserved cooking water and let stand for five minutes until foamy. Add to the mashed vegetables along with the flour, anise, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix and knead for five minutes until a soft, sticky, pliable dough forms.
3. 3 Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place for one and a half hours until doubled in size and bubbly. The dough should be soft and stretchy, much stickier than bread dough. Oil your hands when handling it to prevent sticking.
4. 4 Make the chancaca syrup by dissolving the panela in water over medium heat with the orange peel, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Simmer for fifteen minutes until thick and syrupy. Strain out the whole spices and keep the syrup warm.
5. 5 Heat oil in a deep pot to 175C. Oil your hands generously, take a ball of dough, and poke a hole through the centre with your thumb. Stretch into a ring shape about ten centimetres in diameter. Carefully drop into the hot oil.
6. 6 Fry the picarones for three to four minutes per side, turning with long wooden skewers or tongs, until deep golden brown and puffed. They should be crispy on the outside and soft and airy inside. Drain briefly on a wire rack.
7. 7 Serve the warm picarones drizzled generously with the warm chancaca syrup. These Peruvian pumpkin doughnuts are traditional street food enjoyed in the evening, and are a direct descendant of the bunuelos brought by Spanish colonizers, reimagined with Andean ingredients.