Sunday 4 November 2007

Vitumbua




The other week, one of my anon readers asked me to make vitumbua. Vitumbua is a Tanzanian dish, made from rice flour, coconut, yeast and cardamon. When made well it is fluffy and literally melts in your mouth.

Ingredients

2 cups finely ground rice flour

2 tblspn plain white flour

2 tblspn fresh grated coconut (available frozen in most Asian stores)

1 400 gm tin coconut milk

½ cup hot water

1 tspn dry yeast

½ cup sugsr

½ teaspoon roughly ground cardamom seeds

oil

Method

  1. Mix rice flour, grated coconut, and the coconut milk and hot water to form a thick paste. The temperature should be equivalent to body temperature.
  2. Add the sugar, cardamom and yeast and mix well.
  3. Cover and leave over night
  4. Next day mix thouroughly
  5. Instead of using the vitumbua karai, I used an appam pan which I have previously used to make ponganalu.
  6. Heat the appam pan, plan a drop of oil in each pan, pour in the batter so that the pan is ¾ full.. Cook for 2-3 minutes, and flip the vitumbua, this is quite tricky, but gets easier with practice.
  7. Cook the other side and repeat until all the batter is finished.

We had them for breakfast this morning. They can be served with a kuku paka. Recipe to follow. There is a good recipe at Aly's website.

37 comments:

FH said...

We, in South India make these too but without Yeast. Looks puffy and delicious!!:)

musical said...

Quite like the sweet appey! especially because you use the appey pan. i have to share this recipe with my friend-her daughter is surely gonna' love this one! Saju, those pictures at b'fast time make me want some :).

Cynthia said...

Is it possible to make them without rice flour? Rice flour is not readily accessible here in Barbados.

Saju said...

Cynthia, you can use rice grains (short grain are the best), soak the rice overnight, liquidised with some of the coconut and water, and then add the other ingredients.
Thanks Asha and Musical for your comments, I am on a look out for sweet appey recipes - are they on your blogs?

Finla said...

They are just delicious. Like Asha said in S.India we make them and in Kerala it is called uniappom. If my memorry is correct ( my mom used to make them when i was at home) she made with jaggery.

Dori said...

I love dishes like this...I could eat this type of food till I burst!

Swaruchy said...

Saju....they look Yum......we make these too but the recipe is a lil different.....they have a nice crispiness to them...YUM :-)

Siri said...

Dear Saju, first here and I must say pretty interesting blog..:) love ur vitumbua..:D

Namratha said...

Unniyapam, love them! :)

bee said...

in kerala, they are called vellappam and made thinner and flater like dosas. they taste fabulous. i have the pan. now i gotta try this.

Raaga said...

looks yummy and your description makes me want to grab a few now.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Saju....for your prompt response to my requests...as Vitumbwa is a hereditary recipe, its kind off not available from many people and i am happy to try these out on my appam karai.
I have tried the Neyyapam and they are the closest relation to Vitumbwa...
Thanks again, ahsante sana.

Lissie said...

saju,they will just melt in your mouth! in Kerala we call it unniappam. instead of yeast, we add mashed banana and jaggery instead of sugar.

Swati said...

They really look yum! Have to look for the appey pan now!!

Unknown said...

Wow!
This recipe is known in my country, Madagascar, as "mokary" (pronounced "mookary"). I just love them and I am happy to finally find their recipe! In Madagascar, they are especially popular on the Western and the Southern Cost where many Indo-pakistani live. I think that those Indo-pakistani people have the same origin as the ones who settled on the African Western Coast and other parts of the Indian Ocean. That's why the recipes, particularly the Khodja recipes on your site are the same as those I know.

Many recipes remind me of the dishes I often used to eat as a child. When asking the Indian families about them, I would never get any answer because they were such family secrets! Afterwards I have searched them on Indian food websites but the ones I found were not exactly the same as those I know. I am really happy to find them now.

Thanks a lot for sharing those treasures!

Saju said...

Thanks for your comments everyone. Without comments a blogger can get despondent!
Fara,
I am glad you enjoy my recipes. You are right about people keeping their family recipes secret. This is so in my family too. However I decided I want to share and learn as much as I can from my Mom (Chach1).

Anonymous said...

Thank you for bringing me back to my grandmother's kitchen. I lost her a year ago and your recipes remind of how important she was but her cooking as well.

All the best!

Saju said...

Thanks Glossgirl for your comment. It is great to know that people are finding these recipes usefull. I for one am trying to not down all the traditional recipes lest we forget.

Anonymous said...

HI THANK U SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE....i havent tried it yet but im just wondering if you use whole grain rice soaked overnight and then blended the next day with coconut, do u have to leave it overnight again when the rest of the ingredients are mixed including yeast or is it ok to leave it until the mixture has risen ie. few hours??? thanks

Saju said...

a few hours will do.

Anonymous said...

how can i cook them if dont have a cooker that will fir the whole pan? can I bake them?

Saju said...

I am not sure as I have never tried it. Why don't you try it and let us know. Preheat the oven at medium hot, 180 degrees Centegrate.

lookupandsmile said...

I have been trying to make vitumba for two years now. I tried your recipe, and OMG, they are delishhhh!!! Thank you so much for the recipe!

tuma one said...

hi ther i live in uk ilove vitumbua, cansome one tell me where i can buy the pan u cook with. thanks

Anonymous said...

I have one of these pan but it is only 2 inches in diameter. Does anybody know where to buy a bigger one from or if the 2 inches one is enough? I really want to make this recipe!

Saju said...

you can buy appam pan in Popats on Ealing road in Wembley.

Tas said...

thank you thank you thank you....I haven't had these since I was a kid...and they were a favorite of mine then...Just wondering, do you think I could use a muffin tin on the cooker to make these in...Not sure I can get the pan in NZ!

Can't wait to try it out.

Saju said...

Tas, did you try it in the muffin pans?

Anonymous said...

YAM!

It is after 30 yrs, I want to try making Vitumbua. I have fresh yeast in the house only. ( Living far from shopping areas.) How much do I use?
What oil do a take? Ghee or Coco oil? How much? Asante.

Anonymous said...

How many kitumbua will this recipe make?

Mzizima Alumni Association said...

I don't have an appam pan, but the flipping part made me a little nervous, so I thought I may use a waffle iron, don't know if anyone else has used one. I know the shape will be way off, but it should taste the same.

Mzizima Alumni Association said...

The flip being "quite tricky" comment made me think about using a waffle iron, and I don't own a appam pan either. I wonder if anyone else has tried. I know they won't look the same, but if it tastes the same than I think I might be in business. I will post when I try and will leave a comment.

Saju said...

I can't remember, probably around 12, but it depends on the size.

shirin said...

Can I make vitumbua with rice flour?

shirin said...

Can I make these with rice flour?

Saju said...

I haven't tried rice flour, have a go, I Don't see why it wouldn't work.

Unknown said...

You can use rice itself, soak it for a day, then blend it with the rest of the ingredients

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