Melt the yeast in a cup of warm water (be careful must not be too hot) and in the remaining part of water melt the salt. Put in a bowl the flour, pour in the center the cup of water with the yeast and begin kneading, then gradually add the remaining water. Your dough must be very soft. Next add the ingredients that you wish: olives, capers, raisins, pine nuts or chocolate chips. Let it rise for about 2 hours in a warm place.
When the volume of the dough will be doubled, you can start cooking your pettole. With a wet spoon of water take a bit of dough and let it slide down with your fingers (they also pour a little water) into boiling oil (be careful not to burn yourself!). Cook the pettole right so that all the sides are golden. Then drain them and place on absorbent paper. In the case of sweet pettole let them roll in granulated sugar.

Pettole are a sort of fried pancakes of leavened dough typical of the Salento cuisine, but they are widespread in the rest of Puglia and in some areas of Basilicata and Campania as well.
I know pettole since my childhood, I used to make them with my grandmother when I was a kid and now I keep eating them thanks to my mom that during Christmas time prepares them continuously and sometimes during the year when I get back from work I find them there ready to be enjoyed. I have always called them the "pittule", in dialect of Lecce, thinking that this was the name, in fact only recently I realized that in Italian they are called pettole.

Depending on the geographical area pettole take slightly different names and are prepared in specific days of the year. Pittule in Leccese, prepared from 11 November on the occasion of St. Martin and then re-proposed during the holiday season, pèttuli in Brindisi, where traditionally pettole are prepared on December 7 on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, scorpelle in San Severo (FG ), prepared on December 24, pett'l in Matera, pèttule in Potentino, zeppole in Irpinia (region of the province of Avellino).

In addition, in many places pettole are prepared from 8 December, in other November 22 to celebrate Saint Cecilia, in yet others on November 23, St. Catherine's Day.
It seems that pettole are related to the religious tradition of Christmas and pre-Christmas, in fact you can travel during the months of November and December in these wonderful places and find people who prepare pettole while saying prayers.
It would be interesting to deepen the etymological origin of the word Pettola ..

They are great as an appetizer or as a snack and can also be used in place of bread (again no exaggeration).

It is a preparation strictly energetic thanks to the presence of starch of the flour and the oil that is absorbed during the cooking. Frying makes this dish especially tasty. One suggestion is to drain the oil from the cooked pettole to prevent them becoming too indigeste