Bulgarian yoghurt fried dough (Mekitsa)

1. In a bowl, mix the yoghurt with the bicarbonate of soda and leave for 5 minutes until it starts to foam.

2. Add the eggs, salt and 2 tablespoons of the oil, then gradually the flour, and work into a soft, slightly sticky dough.

3. Cover the bowl and rest for 1 hour so the dough relaxes.

4. With oiled hands, pinch off walnut-sized pieces and stretch them by hand into thin, irregular rounds (the centre can be very thin).

5. Heat a finger's depth of oil in a frying pan and fry the rounds for 1-2 minutes a side until golden; drain on kitchen paper.

6. Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar and with sour cherry jam – or savoury, with sirene.

Tip: Mekitsa is a Bulgarian Sunday breakfast favourite, fried by grandmothers for their grandchildren. The savoury version is topped with crumbled sirene; the dough is also made with yeast, in which case let it rise for 2 hours.