Cheese-and-Marmite vetkoek bites

Makes about 24 small vetkoek Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 20 minutes

Settle the Marmite-vs-Bovril debate around the campfire with this savoury snack.

You need

•1½ cups self-raising flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• big pinch of salt

• big pinch of paprika

• 2 eggs, beaten

• ¾ cup milk

• 1 cup finely grated mature cheddar

• oil, for deep frying

• about 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 tablespoon Marmite or to taste

Here’s how

1 Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and paprika together in a bowl. Beat the eggs and milk together and add to the dry ingredients with half of the cheese. Use a fork to combine until a thick, smooth batter forms.

2 Heat about 2 cm of oil in a deep pan.

(Don’t let it get too hot or the vetkoek will burn before they’re cooked through.) Fry teaspoonfuls of the batter in the oil until golden brown all round and cooked through. Drain the cooked vetkoek on kitchen paper.

3 Melt the butter and Marmite together and drizzle over the vetkoek with a sprinkling of the extra cheese. You can use the Marmite butter as a dipping sauce – it’s messy but worth it. You can also serve the vetkoek with green fig preserve and grated biltong.