Ingredients
Batter
- 500 gmaize flour, or fresh corn dough
- 100 grice flour
- 600 mlwarm water
- 1 teaspoonsalt
To ferment
- 3 tablespoonsbatter from a previous batch, optional
- or 1 teaspoon dried yeast, to speed it up
To sweeten
- 80 gsugar, or to taste
To steam
- banana leaves, wilted
- or greased small bowls
- water, for the steamer
To serve
- fried fish
- hot pepper sauce
- sliced onion
Directions
- Use finely milled white maize flour. The rice flour is what makes it soft and white. Put the maize flour and rice flour in a large bowl. Add the warm water in gradually. Whisk it into a smooth thick batter. It should be like a thick pancake batter.
- Whisk out every last lump of flour. Add the starter or the yeast now. Stir it through the batter thoroughly. Fermenting it takes a day or two. Cover the bowl with a cloth rather than a lid. It needs air but not any insects.
- Leave it somewhere warm and out of the sun. Stir it once each day with a clean spoon. Bubbles should appear on the surface. Taste a little to judge the sourness. Stir in the sugar and the salt.
- Adjust the sugar to your own taste. The batter should now be loose and bubbly. Add a little warm water if it has thickened. Let it stand for thirty minutes after sweetening. Preparing the moulds takes a few minutes. Cut the leaves into large squares. Line small bowls or ramekins with them.
- Set up a steamer with plenty of boiling water. Ladle batter into each lined mould. Fill them about two thirds full. Set them in the steamer in a single layer. Cover it with a cloth-wrapped lid. Steam them for about twenty minutes. Testing them tells you when they are ready.
- Steam them a few minutes longer if not. Let them cool for five minutes in the moulds. Turn them out of the moulds carefully. Serving them is done while warm. Peel the leaf away from each cake.
- Serve them with hot fried fish. Hot pepper sauce and sliced onion go alongside. Keep a little batter back to start the next batch.
Technique
- Abolo and ablo are the same cake on either side of the Ghana and Togo border, and the Ewe live across both countries.
- Fermented maize preparations are widespread in the region and include kenkey and banku.
Substitutions
- Fresh corn dough from an African shop can replace the dried flour and ferments faster.
- Rice flour can be replaced with a little more maize flour, though the cake will be denser.
Variations
- Some cooks steam it in one large piece and cut it into squares.
- A sweeter version is made as a snack rather than to eat with fish.
- Adding a little coconut milk to the batter is done in some households.
History
An Ewe steamed corn bread of the Volta coast, traded across the Ghana-Togo border where the same cake is called ablo.
Frequently asked questions
What is Abolo?
Abolo is a bread & pastry from Ghana: soft steamed cakes of fermented maize batter, faintly sweet, sold with fried fish. An Ewe steamed corn bread of the Volta coast, traded across the Ghana-Togo border where the same cake is called ablo.
How long does Abolo take to make?
Abolo takes 30 minutes plus 2 days fermenting of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 12 cakes. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Abolo?
Yes, within limits. Fresh corn dough from an African shop can replace the dried flour and ferments faster. Rice flour can be replaced with a little more maize flour, though the cake will be denser.
What is the most important thing to get right in Abolo?
Whisk out every last lump of flour. Add the starter or the yeast now. Stir it through the batter thoroughly. Fermenting it takes a day or two. Cover the bowl with a cloth rather than a lid. It needs air but not any insects.
