Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

| African cuisines | Vegetarian Cuisine | Vegan Cuisine

Vitumbua are baked goods commonly found in Tanzania. They are oftenley eaten for breakfast and can be found to be sold in the streets in many places. The ingredients may be varied to taste and availability, however the base ingredient is rice. It can be used in plain form or as flour.

Ingredients

• 2 cups finely ground rice flour (or plain rice)
• 1 cup coconut milk (or coconut milk powder)
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• ½ - 1 cup sugar (brown, white or coconut)
• oil for frying

Optional:

• 8 tablespoons plain flour (possibly wholewheat)
• 2 egg white
• 2 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
• 2-3 tablespoon coconut flakes
• ½ -1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Spice Cardamom, nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• about ½ cup water if cooking with rice flour and/or coconut milk powder

Procedure

If plain rice is used:

1. Soak the rice and let it soften for at least 4 hours, maybe over night.
2. Drain the rice.
3. Blend the rice with the other ingredients to a batter.

If rice flour is used:

1. Mix all ingredients, add water so that a rather thick batter forms.

For both continue here:

1. Let the covered batter rise in a warm place until it at least doubled in size and bubbles form on the surface. (May take about 45 - 60 minutes, some advice to let rise over night.)
2. Stir the batter.
3. Prepare frying utensil: If you have, you should use a vitumbua pan, otherwise an ordinary pan has to suffice. Oil the pan and heat it.
4. Fry: Fill the 'holes' (of the vitumbua pan) to about ¾ with batter. Let it cook for about 2 - 3 minutes; ist starts to brown. Flip the vitumbua and cook the other side.
5. Let it cool slightly.