Mkate wa sinia

Ingredients

The batter

• 400 gwhite rice
• soaked overnight
• 400 mlthick coconut milk
• 180 gsugar
• 7 gdried yeast
• 3eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoonsalt
• 1 teaspoonground cardamom

Sometimes added

• a pinch of grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoonsmelted butter
• a little rosewater

To bake

• a round metal tray
• the sinia
• butter, to grease
• coals for the lid
• or a conventional oven

To serve

• cut into wedges
• with spiced tea
• at Ramadan or a celebration

Directions

1. Heat from one side alone browns unevenly. Steaming gives a pale soft one. Rinse the rice in several changes of water. Cover it well with cold water. Leave it to soak there overnight. Dry rice stays gritty however long you grind it. Drain the soaked rice thoroughly. Discard all of the soaking water. Put the drained rice in a blender. Add some of the thick coconut milk.
2. Blend it to a smooth thick batter. It must be genuinely smooth throughout. Blend it for several full minutes. Add coconut milk as needed to move it.
3. Rub a little between your fingers. It should feel entirely smooth. Blend it longer if it feels sandy. Warm a little coconut milk gently. Stir the yeast and a spoon of sugar in. Let it stand until it foams up. Give it about ten minutes to foam.
4. Add the foaming yeast to the batter. Add the rest of the coconut milk. Add the sugar, salt and cardamom. Stir it all together thoroughly. Hold the eggs back at this stage. Rising it takes several hours. Cover the bowl over with a cloth.
5. Leave it somewhere warm to rise. Give it at least three full hours. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Fold them gently into the risen batter. Fold rather than beating it hard. Grease the tray well with butter. Grease the base and the sides. Pour the batter into the greased tray. Fill it about two thirds full. Set the tray over the hot coals. Put a metal lid over the tray.
6. Heap more coals on top of the lid. The base burns easily if overheated. Adjust the coals as it bakes on. Heat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees.
7. Bake it for about forty minutes. Judging it takes a careful test. Bake it longer if the skewer is wet. Let it cool in the tray for twenty minutes. Cutting it hot tears it apart. Cut it into wedges in the tray. Serve hot spiced tea alongside. It keeps three days in a sealed container. Warm it briefly to soften it again.

Technique

• The sinia is a round metal tray set over coals with a lid above it and more coals heaped on the lid: heat from one side alone browns unevenly, with the bottom cooking while the top stays pale, and coals above solve that entirely. Use fewer coals below than above, since the base burns easily.
• The atlas also carries mkate wa kumimina from Zanzibar, a very similar batter steamed rather than baked, and mkatra siniya from the Comoros, built on semolina. Baking gives a browned drier firmer result where steaming gives a pale spongy moist one; they belong to one Indian Ocean family.
• Hold the eggs back until after the rising and fold them in gently, since adding them early slows the yeast and beating the risen batter knocks out the gas that makes it light.

Substitutions

• A conventional oven at one hundred and eighty degrees gives a very close result, lacking only the faint coal smoke.
• Soaked ground rice is needed rather than rice flour, since dry rice stays gritty however long you blend it.

Variations

• Nutmeg, melted butter or a little rosewater go into the batter in some households.
• Lamu is an old Swahili town that traded across the Indian Ocean for centuries, and its cooking shows those connections.
• Let it cool twenty minutes in the tray before cutting, since it firms up considerably and tears apart hot.

History

A Swahili coast speciality of Lamu and Mombasa, baked in a metal tray with coals set on the lid.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mkate wa sinia?

Mkate wa sinia is a bread & pastry from Kenya: fermented rice and coconut batter baked into a soft tray cake. A Swahili coast speciality of Lamu and Mombasa, baked in a metal tray with coals set on the lid.

How long does Mkate wa sinia take to make?

Mkate wa sinia takes 20 minutes plus soaking and rising of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 8. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mkate wa sinia?

Yes, within limits. A conventional oven at one hundred and eighty degrees gives a very close result, lacking only the faint coal smoke. Soaked ground rice is needed rather than rice flour, since dry rice stays gritty however long you blend it.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mkate wa sinia?

Blend it to a smooth thick batter. It must be genuinely smooth throughout. Blend it for several full minutes. Add coconut milk as needed to move it.