Mofo anana

Ingredients

The greens

• 400 gleafy greens
• anana, mixed greens
• or spinach, or cassava leaf
• or watercress, or mustard greens
• shredded very finely
• 1 teaspoonsalt, for wilting

The batter

• 250 gplain flour
• or 200 g flour and 50 g rice flour
• for crispness
• 1 teaspoonbaking powder
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• half a teaspoon black pepper
• about 250 ml water
• 1egg, beaten
• optional

The seasoning

• 1onion, very finely chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• a thumb of ginger, grated
• 2spring onions, sliced
• 1hot chilli, chopped
• or to taste
• a handful of coriander, chopped
• optional

For frying

• 1 litrevegetable oil
• or enough for 5 cm depth

To serve

• hot, on their own
• sakay, the Malagasy chilli condiment
• or a chilli sauce
• lemon wedges

Directions

1. Boil it for at least twenty minutes first. Those need no pre-cooking. Wash the greens thoroughly first. Lift them out rather than pouring off. Repeat with fresh water. Dry them thoroughly in a cloth or spinner. Stack the leaves, roll them tightly.
2. Slice across as finely as you can. That water must come out before frying. Toss the shredded greens with a teaspoon of salt. Leave them in a colander for fifteen minutes. Squeeze out as much as you can. Taste before adding more. Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Add the pepper. Fifty grams in two hundred and fifty is enough. Add water gradually while whisking. Add the egg if you are using it. Whisk until smooth. It should be a thick batter. Add the squeezed greens to the batter.
4. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and spring onion. Add the chilli and coriander. Mix it all through with your hands. There should be far more greens than batter. Chop it very finely. Use a deep heavy pot. Fill it no more than one third full. Never leave hot oil unattended. Keep a well fitting lid within reach. If it catches fire, turn off the heat and cover it.
5. Heat the oil to one hundred and seventy-five degrees. It should sizzle immediately and rise. Drop rough spoonfuls into the oil. Use two wet spoons. Do not shape them neatly. Fry five or six at a time. Do not crowd the pot. Fry them for three or four minutes. Turn them once they have set. They should be deep golden and crisp.
6. Break it open. The centre should be cooked, not wet batter. Lift them out with a slotted spoon. Drain them on a rack over kitchen paper. A rack keeps them crisper than paper alone.
7. Let the oil recover between batches. It is made from hot chillies with garlic and ginger. Add salt and cover with oil. Let it stand an hour. It keeps two weeks refrigerated. Serve them hot, within minutes. Serve sakay or a chilli sauce alongside. Serve lemon wedges. They keep a day in an airtight tin.

Technique

• Salt the shredded greens and squeeze them hard in a cloth before they go into the batter. Greens hold a great deal of water, and wet greens give soggy fritters that fall apart and spit dangerously in hot oil. Then cut back the salt in the batter, since the greens have absorbed some.
• Shred the greens very finely. Large pieces of leaf make the fritter fall apart and stick out to burn in the oil.
• There should be far more greens than batter. The batter is a binder, not a coating, and a fritter that is mostly batter has missed the point.
• Do not move the fritters for the first minute in the oil. They need time to set, and moved early they break apart.
• Keep the batter thick enough to cling rather than pour. Too thin and it will not hold the greens; too thick and the fritters are doughy.
• Mix the batter and use it. Baking powder starts working as soon as it is wet and its lift is largely spent within twenty minutes.
• Drop rough spoonfuls rather than shaping them neatly. The ragged edges are what go crisp.
• A proportion of rice flour in place of some wheat flour gives a noticeably crisper crust, since rice flour has no gluten and fries crisp.
• Chop the onion very finely. Coarse onion breaks the fritter apart and releases more water into it.
• Cassava leaf contains cyanogenic compounds and must be cooked thoroughly before use — boiled at least twenty minutes and drained. Never put raw cassava leaf into a fritter. Ordinary greens like spinach need no pre-cooking.
• Wash the greens by plunging and lifting out of a bowl rather than pouring the water off, then dry them thoroughly. Grit sinks, and pouring tips it back over the leaves.
• Deep-frying rules apply: fill the pot no more than a third, never leave it unattended, keep a lid within reach, and if the oil catches fire turn off the heat and smother it. Never throw water on burning oil.
• Malagasy is an Austronesian language whose closest relatives are spoken in Borneo — Madagascar’s people came from both Southeast Asia and Africa, which is documented and genuinely remarkable.

Substitutions

• Spinach, watercress, mustard greens or amaranth all serve; anana is a category rather than one plant.
• Cassava leaf is traditional but must be boiled at least twenty minutes first.
• Fifty grams of rice flour in place of some wheat flour gives a crisper fritter.
• The egg can be left out entirely, which also makes them vegan.
• Any chilli sauce replaces sakay.
• Chickpea flour replaces wheat flour for a gluten-free version, behaving differently but working.

Variations

• Mofo gasy, the rice flour breakfast cake, is sold from the same stalls.
• Mofo baolina is the plain fried dough ball.
• Mofo akondro uses mashed banana in the batter.
• Mofo sakay is the chilli-spiked version.
• Ravitoto, pounded cassava leaves cooked with pork, is the great Malagasy greens dish.
• A version with small dried shrimp worked into the batter is made on the coast.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mofo anana?

Mofo anana is a street food from Madagascar: savory greens fritters fried at street stalls.

How long does Mofo anana take to make?

Mofo anana takes 25 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 20. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Mofo anana?

Yes, within limits. Spinach, watercress, mustard greens or amaranth all serve; anana is a category rather than one plant. Cassava leaf is traditional but must be boiled at least twenty minutes first. Fifty grams of rice flour in place of some wheat flour gives a crisper fritter. The egg can be left out entirely, which also makes them vegan. Any chilli sauce replaces sakay. Chickpea flour replaces wheat flour for a gluten-free version, behaving differently but working.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mofo anana?

Boil it for at least twenty minutes first. Those need no pre-cooking. Wash the greens thoroughly first. Lift them out rather than pouring off. Repeat with fresh water. Dry them thoroughly in a cloth or spinner. Stack the leaves, roll them tightly.