Mofo gasy

Ingredients

Batter

• 400 grice flour
• 100 gplain flour
• 120 gcaster sugar
• 7 ginstant yeast, or 20 g fresh yeast
• 1 tspfine salt
• 400 mlcoconut milk
• 200 mlwarm water
• 1 tspvanilla extract, optional

To cook

• 3 tbspneutral oil, for the pan

Equipment

• 1dimpled cast-iron pan (a poffertjes or aebleskiver pan), or a small heavy frying pan

To serve

• Sweet black coffee or hot ranovola (burnt-rice water)

Directions

1. Whisk the rice flour, plain flour, sugar, yeast and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Beat in the coconut milk and warm water gradually to a smooth, lump-free batter about the thickness of double cream. Rice flour hydrates slowly, so beat for a full 2 minutes.
3. Cover with a cloth and leave at warm room temperature for 8–12 hours, or overnight. It should rise, bubble across the surface and smell faintly sour and yeasty; that mild ferment is what gives mofo gasy its tang.
4. Stir the risen batter down gently. It should still be pourable; loosen with a splash of warm water if it has thickened.
5. Heat the dimpled pan over medium-low heat and brush each hollow with a little oil. The pan is ready when a drop of batter sets at the edges within 5 seconds without browning instantly.
6. Fill each hollow almost to the rim. Cook 4–5 minutes, until the edges are set and dry, the surface is covered in burst bubbles and the base is deep gold.
7. Turn each cake with a skewer or a chopstick in a single flip, and cook 2–3 minutes more until puffed, domed and springy in the centre.
8. Lift out onto a cloth-lined basket and keep going, oiling the hollows between batches. They should be crisp-edged, custardy inside and steaming.
9. Serve immediately, hot, with sweet black coffee, exactly as they are sold from charcoal braziers on Antananarivo street corners between five and eight in the morning.

Technique

• The overnight ferment is the difference between mofo gasy and an ordinary sweet pancake. It builds acidity that balances the sugar and gives the open, slightly chewy crumb.
• Rice flour gives the characteristic crisp shell and slightly grainy bite. All-wheat versions taste like doughnuts and are not the same thing.
• Keep the heat moderate. Too hot and the outside colours before the inside sets, leaving a raw, gummy middle.
• Mofo means bread in Malagasy, and mofo gasy simply means Malagasy bread; it is breakfast, sold by the piece and eaten standing up.

Substitutions

• No dimpled pan: use a small non-stick frying pan and cook 8 cm rounds, or an egg-poaching pan; the shape changes but the eating does not.
• Coconut milk can be replaced with whole milk or plain water, which is what many street sellers use; the cakes are less rich but still correct.
• Fresh yeast at 20 g gives a slightly faster and more aromatic ferment.

Variations

• Mofo anana, the savoury version with chopped greens and no sugar, fried as fritters.
• Mofo baolina, deep-fried balls of the same batter sold alongside.
• A version enriched with mashed banana folded through the batter before frying.

History

Malagasy bread: fermented rice-flour batter cooked in a dimpled iron pan over charcoal, the standard breakfast bought on the way to work.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mofo gasy?

Mofo gasy is a breakfast from Madagascar: sweet rice-flour griddle cakes sold warm at dawn. Malagasy bread: fermented rice-flour batter cooked in a dimpled iron pan over charcoal, the standard breakfast bought on the way to work.

How long does Mofo gasy take to make?

Mofo gasy takes 20 min plus overnight ferment of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 20 cakes, 4–5 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Mofo gasy?

Yes, within limits. No dimpled pan: use a small non-stick frying pan and cook 8 cm rounds, or an egg-poaching pan; the shape changes but the eating does not. Coconut milk can be replaced with whole milk or plain water, which is what many street sellers use; the cakes are less rich but still correct. Fresh yeast at 20 g gives a slightly faster and more aromatic ferment.

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

The overnight ferment is the difference between mofo gasy and an ordinary sweet pancake. It builds acidity that balances the sugar and gives the open, slightly chewy crumb.