1. Mix all the ingredients (except frying oil and vanilla-scented castor sugar for dusting) and knead well to form a smooth, pliable dough. Set aside and allow the dough to rest for 1 hour.
2. Roll out the dough to the "thickness of a knife", or about 1.5 - 2 mm (you may dust the surface lightly with flour to prevent sticking).
3. Cut the dough into rectangles, 10 x 14 cm. Make two cuts in each rectangle, parallel to the shorter edge, some 4 cm from both edges. Pick the right edge and pass it through the left cut (or vice versa), pulling the dough enough to make the resulting "braid" stable and firm, but not enough to tear the dough (there are other ways of "braiding" the "flancati", but this one is the easiest to explain verbally).
4. Heat frying oil to 160 °C and fry the "flancati" in small batches until golden brown; drain and dust with vanilla-scented castor sugar.
