Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gplain flour
- 7 ginstant yeast
- 80 gsugar
- 1 tbspground cardamom
- 1 tspground coriander
- ½ tspsalt
- 100 mloil
- 250 mlwarm milk
- 50 graisins
To finish
- melted butter
- a few nigella or cardamom seeds
Directions
- Grind the cardamom fresh from the pods, and use more of it than feels reasonable.
- Cardamom is the whole flavour of himbasha and there is no second flavour standing behind it. Old ground cardamom tastes of nothing, and the bread is then just a sweet roll.
- Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, cardamom, coriander and salt.
- Add the oil and warm milk and knead for 10 minutes to a soft smooth dough, working the raisins in at the end.
- Prove for about an hour, until doubled.
- Knock it back and shape it into a single round about 3 cm thick, in a greased tin or on a tray.
- Now the scoring, which is what makes it himbasha rather than a loaf.
- Press a line from the centre out to the edge with the back of a knife, then another, dividing the round into eight or twelve wedges like the spokes of a wheel.
- Press the lines deep, down towards the base, but do not cut through. They set the pattern and they are also how the bread is torn apart at the table.
- Press a ring of small marks around the centre with a bottle cap or the tip of a knife.
- Prove for a further 30 minutes.
- Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden and hollow-sounding underneath.
- Brush the top generously with melted butter as it comes out of the oven.
- Cool it a little and tear it apart along the scored spokes rather than cutting it.
- It is baked in Eritrean homes for Christmas, for Meskel and for Eid, and the sun-wheel pattern is the mark of a celebration bread.
Technique
- It is only lightly sweet and is eaten with coffee rather than treated as a dessert.
- The same bread is made in Ethiopia, where it is often called ambasha.
- Raisins are common but far from universal, and plenty of households leave them out.
Substitutions
- Butter in place of oil, for a richer crumb.
- Half wholemeal flour, which is closer to the older village version.
Variations
- With nigella seeds worked through the dough.
- Without raisins.
- Made larger and thinner, as a shared festival round.
History
Sweet cardamom celebration bread scored in a sun-wheel pattern, baked in Eritrean homes for Christmas, Meskel and Eid.
Frequently asked questions
What is Himbasha?
Himbasha is a bread & pastry from Eritrea: lightly sweet cardamom celebration bread scored in a wheel pattern. Sweet cardamom celebration bread scored in a sun-wheel pattern, baked in Eritrean homes for Christmas, Meskel and Eid.
How long does Himbasha take to make?
Himbasha takes 20 min plus 1 hr 30 min rising of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 large round. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Himbasha?
Yes, within limits. Butter in place of oil, for a richer crumb. Half wholemeal flour, which is closer to the older village version.
What is the most important thing to get right in Himbasha?
Cardamom is the whole flavour of himbasha and there is no second flavour standing behind it. Old ground cardamom tastes of nothing, and the bread is then just a sweet roll.
