Bohobe ba Sesotho

Ingredients

Dough

• 700 gplain flour
• 10 gdried yeast
• 2 tablespoonssugar
• 2 teaspoonssalt
• about 450 ml warm water
• 3 tablespoonsoil

For the pot

• oil or butter, for greasing
• a little flour, for dusting

To serve

• butter
• jam
• or a meat stew
• tea

Equipment

• a heavy three-legged pot with a lid
• or a heavy casserole
• hot coals, or an oven

Directions

1. Warm the water until it is comfortably lukewarm. Water that is too hot kills the yeast outright. Stir the yeast and sugar into a little of the water. Leave it ten minutes until it froths. Put the flour and salt in a large bowl.
2. Pour in the yeasted water and the oil. Add the remaining water gradually. Bring it together into a soft dough. Kneading it takes about ten minutes. Turn the dough onto a floured surface.
3. Knead it steadily until smooth and elastic. It should be soft and slightly tacky. Oil the bowl and turn the dough in it. Cover it over with a clean cloth. Leave it somewhere warm until doubled. Grease the inside of the pot thoroughly.
4. Dust it with a little plain flour. That combination stops the bread sticking. Shape it into a smooth round loaf. Set it in the middle of the pot. It should not fill more than half the pot.
5. Cover the pot and let it rise again. Give it about thirty minutes there. Let it burn down to steady glowing embers. Set the pot on its three legs among them. Baking it takes about an hour.
6. Leave the pot alone for the first forty minutes. Lifting the lid lets out the heat you need. Turn the pot occasionally for even baking. Check on it after fifty minutes. Heat the oven up to 200C for it. Put the covered casserole into it. Bake it for forty minutes with the lid on. Then take the lid off for twenty minutes.
7. Turn the loaf out and tap the base. It should sound hollow when tapped. Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack. Let it cool for at least thirty minutes. Cutting it hot gives a gummy crumb. Cut it with a long serrated knife. Spread it generously with butter. It keeps three days wrapped in a cloth.

Technique

• The three-legged cast iron pot is used across southern Africa for both stews and bread, set directly among coals.
• Baking with coals above and below the lid is a longstanding method for making bread without an oven.

Substitutions

• A heavy casserole in an ordinary oven gives a very similar loaf.
• Wholemeal flour can replace some of the white for a denser bread.

Variations

• Some households add a little maize meal to the dough.
• Steamed bread, cooked in a covered bowl over water, is a related Basotho bread.
• Makoenya are the fried dough balls eaten alongside in the same households.

History

Baked in a lidded three-legged pot over coals rather than an oven, the Basotho method in homes without electricity.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bohobe ba Sesotho?

Bohobe ba Sesotho is a bread & pastry from Lesotho: dense pot-baked bread with a hard crust, cut thick and buttered. Baked in a lidded three-legged pot over coals rather than an oven, the Basotho method in homes without electricity.

How long does Bohobe ba Sesotho take to make?

Bohobe ba Sesotho takes 25 minutes plus 1 hour rising of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes one loaf. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Bohobe ba Sesotho?

Yes, within limits. A heavy casserole in an ordinary oven gives a very similar loaf. Wholemeal flour can replace some of the white for a denser bread.