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Mkate wa mofa
Mkate wa mofa: Lamu's lightly sweet fermented millet and wheat flatbread
Before dawn in Lamu's narrow lanes, bakers slap rounds of mofa dough onto the hot walls of a clay oven, and by breakfast the breads are stacked in baskets beside glasses of spiced tea. The dough mixes millet and wheat flour with coconut milk, a little sugar and cardamom, then ferments overnight, so each bread comes out soft and slightly chewy with a tangy, nutty taste and a blistered top. Islanders eat them with tea, with fried fish, or split and dipped in a bean or coconut sauce. Without a clay oven, a heavy pan on the hob plus a hot grill gives the same blistering; just don't roll the dough thin like chapati, a common slip, because mofa should be about 1 cm thick and pressed out by hand. Chef's tip: wet your palms before shaping, as islanders do; the dough is soft and the water stops it sticking.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 7 oz millet flourpearl millet (bajra) or finger millet flour
- 9 oz plain flour
- 1 tsp instant dried yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ cup coconut milkat room temperature
- ¾ cup warm waterplus a little more if needed
- 2 tbsp vegetable oilfor the pan
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)for the tops
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Method
0/10 doneStep 1: The night before, mix 7 oz millet flour, 9 oz plain flour, 1 tsp instant dried yeast, 2 tbsp sugar, ½ tsp ground cardamom and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl.
Step 2: Add ¾ cup coconut milk and ¾ cup warm water and beat with a wooden spoon or your hand for 5 minutes, until you have a very soft, sticky dough, softer than bread dough. Add a spoon or two more water if it feels stiff.
5 minStep 3: Cover the bowl and leave it overnight (10–12 hours) in a cool room or 14–16 hours in the fridge, until the dough has roughly doubled, is full of bubbles and smells pleasantly sour.
Step 4: Next morning, let fridge dough stand 30 minutes at room temperature. Divide into 8 pieces with wet hands.
30 minStep 5: Heat a heavy frying pan or cast-iron grill pan over a medium heat and brush it with a little 2 tbsp vegetable oil. Turn the oven grill to high.
Step 6: With wet palms, pat a piece of dough into a round about 12 cm wide and 1 cm thick. Press on a few 1 tbsp sesame seeds seeds if using.
Step 7: Lay 2 rounds in the pan and cook until the base is browned in patches and the edges look dry, about 4 minutes.
4 minStep 8: Slide the pan under the hot grill, about 10 cm from the heat, until the tops puff and blister with brown spots, 1–2 minutes. Use an ovenproof pan, or flip the breads in the pan for 2 minutes instead.
2 minStep 9: Wrap the cooked breads in a clean tea towel to keep them soft while you cook the rest, brushing the pan with oil each time. Serve warm with tea.
Step 10: Leftovers keep 2 days wrapped; warm them in a dry pan for a minute each side.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 40 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mkate wa mofa take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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