West Africa · Breakfast

Masa (Fermented Rice and Millet Griddle Cakes)

Name: Masa (Fermented Rice and Millet Griddle Cakes)
Prep time: 720 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 745 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Niger
Ingredients: 350 g short-grain raw white rice, soaked overnight; 100 g pearl millet grains (substitute: sorghum or extra raw white rice), soaked overnight; 80 g cooked white rice (for the talge binder); 5 g active dry yeast; 30 g granulated cane sugar; 3 g potassium carbonate potash / kanwa (substitute: baking soda); 5 g fine sea salt; 200 ml lukewarm water; 60 g white onion, finely minced; 80 ml groundnut oil (for seasoning and cooking)

Golden, cloud-soft fermented rice and millet griddle cakes with a crisp exterior, traditionally cooked in cast-iron dimpled pans.

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hausafermentedstreet-foodbreakfastgluten-free

The story

Eaten ubiquitously at dawn across Hausa and Zarma towns from Maradi to Zinder and Niamey, Masa is the quintessential Sahelian market breakfast and celebration staple. Street vendors typically prepare the batter in monumental clay jars, relying on wild lactobacillus and yeast to impart the characteristic tangy, sourdough-like fragrance. The culinary secret lies in talge, a cooked gelatinized rice gruel mixed back into the raw fermented batter, which traps escaping steam to yield an ultra-spongy, honeycomb crumb.

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