Pumpkin fritters recipe: Valencian bunyols

Pumpkin fritters are counted by the dozen. The base recipe on this page comes from Valencia Bonita and makes about 12; the other one, Convega’s from the Vega Baja, we give in the text as a variation, because it is made differently and is not used in the quantity calculator. One is not good and the other bad: they are two ways of making them.

Two ways to reach the same fritter

The big difference is how the pumpkin is cooked. Valencia Bonita roasts it, seeds in and at 180 °C for a little over an hour, and then scoops out only the flesh. That hour is the cooking time marked on this page; the frying goes by eye, by colour. The dough contains flour, preferably strong, and fresh yeast, no egg, and rests for about 30 minutes. Convega’s recipe book peels and boils the pumpkin, keeps the water it was boiled in, whisks the egg whites to stiff peaks and adds yolks, sugar and orange zest; the dough rises for an hour, is fried in small pieces and rolled in plenty of sugar.

There is a coincidence we like: both use twice as much pumpkin as flour. In Valencia Bonita’s it is 500 g of roasted flesh to 250 g of flour; in Convega’s, 2 kg of pumpkin to 1 kg. We do not give Convega’s other figures: the oil is printed as “1/2 litros”, and the half tablespoon of yeast for a kilo of flour does not fit the 25 g that Valencia Bonita asks for 250 g. We have declared this on the page and not put in a figure of our own making. Nor does Convega give a yield, so we do not know how many fritters it makes.

Getting them right: orange, not white

Valencia Bonita insists on one point: the fritter should come out more orange than whitish, because it is made of pumpkin and not of flour. And it quotes the warning of El Tio Visantico about those bought outside the home: “els posaran molta farina i poca carabassa” (they will put in lots of flour and little pumpkin). That is why roasting matters: roasted flesh concentrates more flavour and colour than pumpkin boiled in water or cooked in the microwave. If the pumpkin does not have enough sugar, or if the guests have a sweet tooth, you can add some to the dough, as well as the sugar that goes on top. Nor is there any need to take the pumpkin out of its skin before roasting: it is roasted whole, cut in half, and scooped out afterwards.

Frying with a hole

The oil, sunflower or seed, goes over a moderate heat. When it smokes, you flour your hands or wet them with warm water, take a portion, shape a ball and make the hole with your thumb. In the oil, the long stick helps the hole not to close and the spatula to turn them without browning them too much. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with sugar.

When they are eaten and with what

Valencia Bonita presents them as the typical sweet of the Fallas (Valencia’s March fiesta of fire and monuments) and serves them, on cold days, with a good cup of chocolate. If you do not know the fiesta from the inside, the glossary explains what a casal faller is. In the Vega Baja, Convega places them at times such as San José or All Saints, when the pumpkin season begins. The 19th of March and its public holiday are on the calendar: 19 March. For the rest of the fiesta repertoire, in the recipe collection you have the mona de Pascua and the coca amb tonyina of the Hogueras. And for dipping in horchata, the fartons.

For a crowd

A dozen disappears in no time. If there are lots of you and it is your fiesta, we cook for the neighbourhood or casal fiesta, with set-up and bar.