AI-generated image
Masa (Hausa fermented rice cakes)
Masa / Waina: puffy, lightly sour rice cakes from Kano and Sokoto, cooked in a dimpled pan
Before sunrise in Kano, Sokoto and Katsina, women set out clay or cast-iron pans with round hollows and fry masa by the dozen for breakfast, and during Ramadan they are a favourite at the breaking of the fast. Soaked rice is ground with a little cooked rice, left to ferment until bubbly, then cooked in the hollows, so each cake is crisp and brown underneath and soft and spongy inside, with a gentle sourness. They are eaten with sugar syrup, yaji pepper or miyan taushe (honey is common too, while syrup keeps them vegan). A thin batter is the classic mistake: it spreads and fries flat, so aim for the thickness of a thick pancake batter. Chef's tip: start the night before, since the rice soaks 8 hours and the batter ferments 4–8 hours more, and use an aebleskiver or paniyaram pan if you have no masa pan.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the batter
- 14 oz short-grain ricesoaked 8 hours or overnight
- 3 ½ oz cooked short-grain riceabout 4 tbsp
- 1 tsp instant dried yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup lukewarm waterroughly; add as needed
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
To cook and serve
- 6 tbsp vegetable oilfor the pan
- 4 tbsp sugar syrup or date syrup (optional)
- 1 tsp yaji (suya spice) (optional)
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Drain 14 oz short-grain rice and blend it with 3 ½ oz cooked short-grain rice and about 200 ml of the 1 cup lukewarm water until very smooth, like thick cream. Add more water only a spoonful at a time.
5 minStep 2: Stir in 1 tsp instant dried yeast and 2 tbsp sugar, cover and leave in a warm place for 4–8 hours, until the batter has risen, smells pleasantly sour and is full of bubbles.
Step 3: Just before cooking, stir in ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda. The batter should drop thickly from a spoon; if it is runny, rest it 30 minutes more rather than adding anything.
Step 4: Heat a masa or aebleskiver pan over a medium heat. Put ½ tsp 6 tbsp vegetable oil in each hollow and heat until it shimmers.
3 minStep 5: Fill each hollow about three-quarters full. Cover with a lid and cook for 3–4 minutes, until the edges are golden and the tops look set and full of holes.
4 minStep 6: Turn each cake with a skewer or spoon and cook for 2 minutes more, until golden on the second side. Keep warm under a cloth while you cook the rest, oiling the hollows each time.
2 minStep 7: Serve warm with 4 tbsp sugar syrup or date syrup, a sprinkle of 1 tsp yaji (suya spice) or a bowl of miyan taushe.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 420 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 85 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does masa (Hausa fermented rice cakes) take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 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.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of short-grain rice?
- Any long-grain rice, same amount.
- What can I use instead of cooked short-grain rice?
- Any long-grain rice, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Sabudana khichdiSago with peanuts and potato
Sabudana khichdi is the dish that sees Maharashtra through every vrat (fast), from Navratri to Ekadashi, but it's so good that people eat it any day of the week. Soaked sago pearls are tossed in a pan with crushed roasted peanuts, cubes of potato, cumin and green chilli until each pearl turns glassy and separate, then finished with lemon and coriander. It's soft, chewy, nutty and gently hot. Fasting rules vary from family to family, so check yours; this version uses rock salt and no asafoetida, onion or garlic. Traditionally it's cooked in ghee; use ghee instead of oil if you aren't keeping it vegan. Chef's tip: soak the sago in just enough water to cover by the height of the pearls themselves, no more; too much water is the reason khichdi turns into one sticky lump.
Indian
Doi chiraFlattened rice with curd
Nothing is cooked for doi chira, which is why it has been the breakfast of farmers and fishermen in Barisal for generations: flattened rice is rinsed, softened in thick, slightly sour curd and sweetened with jaggery or sugar, then mashed together with a ripe banana. The texture is soft and creamy with a little chew from the rice flakes, and the taste is cool, sweet and tangy. It is eaten on hot summer mornings, at village fairs and as part of the Pohela Boishakh spread, and it is a favourite of children and of anyone fasting who wants something gentle. The usual misstep is soaking the chira for too long, which turns it to paste; a quick rinse is all it needs before the curd does the rest. Chef's tip: use thick-cut chira, not the thin kind for frying, so the flakes hold their shape.
Bangladeshi
BsissaRoasted barley flour with olive oil
A tin of bsissa sits in many Tunisian kitchen cupboards, from Tunis flats to farmhouses in the south: a finely ground flour of roasted barley, roasted chickpeas and spices such as coriander, fennel and aniseed. In the morning a few spoonfuls are worked with olive oil and something sweet into a nutty, crumbly paste, or stirred with water into a thick drink, and it keeps you going until lunch. Travellers and pilgrims once carried it for the road. Roasting your own flour takes 15 minutes and makes a jar that lasts weeks. Sugar and dates keep it vegan; some families use honey. Chef's tip: roast the flours separately over a low heat and stir constantly; the moment they smell like toasted biscuits and turn light tan, tip them out of the pan.
Tunisian