Zitumbuwa

Ingredients

The bananas

• 6very ripe bananas
• skins heavily blackened
• mashed thoroughly
• about 600 g of flesh

The flour

• 200 grice flour
• or 200 g maize flour
• or a mixture of both
• or plain wheat flour
• 1 teaspoonbaking powder
• half a teaspoon salt

Sometimes added

• 2 tablespoonssugar
• if the bananas are not sweet enough
• half a teaspoon grated nutmeg
• a pinch of cinnamon
• a splash of milk or water
• to loosen

For frying

• 800 mlvegetable oil
• or enough for 5 cm depth

To serve

• hot, on their own
• or with tea
• sugar, to dust, optional

Directions

1. Leave bananas at room temperature to ripen. Put them in a paper bag to hurry it. Freeze them peeled in a bag. That is why the banana must be very soft. Peel the bananas into a large bowl. Mash them thoroughly with a fork.
2. Mash them until nearly smooth. Add the baking powder and salt. Add nutmeg or cinnamon if using. Mix it thoroughly with a spoon. The batter should be thick and droppable.
3. Add a little more flour if it is too loose. Add a splash of milk if it is too stiff. Taste the mashed banana first. Add sugar only if it needs it. Ten minutes lets the flour hydrate. Use a deep heavy pan or a pot. Fill it no more than one third full.
4. Oil bubbles up sharply when batter goes in. Never leave hot oil unattended at all. Keep a well fitting lid within reach. If the oil catches fire, turn off the heat.
5. Heat the oil to one hundred and seventy degrees. These fritters are dense and quite wet. Drop in spoonfuls of the batter. Use two spoons, pushing off with one. Aim for balls about the size of a walnut.
6. Fry four or five at a time only. Do not crowd the pan at any point. Turn them so they colour evenly. Fry them for about five minutes. They should be deep golden all over. Break it open and look at the centre. It should be cooked and slightly cakey.
7. Lift them out with a slotted spoon. Drain them on a rack over kitchen paper. A rack keeps them far less greasy. Let the oil recover between batches. Now serve them hot. Dust them with sugar if you like. Most sellers do not bother.

Technique

• The bananas must be genuinely overripe, with heavily blackened skins and very soft flesh. That is when the starch has turned to sugar. Underripe bananas are starchy and bland, will not mash smoothly, and give a dense flavourless fritter that no amount of added sugar rescues. Bananas past the point of comfortable eating are exactly right — using them up is the whole origin of the dish.
• Fry at 170 degrees, cooler than for many fried foods. These are dense and wet and need time to cook through, and banana batter browns quickly because of its sugar, so the risk of a raw gluey centre is higher than usual. Break the first one open and check.
• Rice and maize flour contain no gluten, so the batter has no elastic structure and relies entirely on the banana to bind it. That is why the fruit must be very soft, and why the fritters are fragile — handle them gently in the oil.
• Judge the batter, not the recipe. Very ripe bananas give a wetter mixture needing more flour; a drier one needs a splash of milk. It should hold its shape on a spoon and not run off.
• Taste the mashed banana before adding any sugar. Very ripe fruit is often sweet enough on its own, and many households add none.
• Keep the fritters small, about walnut sized. Large ones stay raw in the middle.
• Deep-frying rules apply: fill the pan no more than a third, never leave it unattended, keep a lid within reach, and never throw water on burning oil.
• Overripe bananas freeze well, peeled, in a bag. They thaw brown and mushy, which is exactly what this dish wants, so a stock can be built up over time.
• The name is related to Swahili vitumbua and to Zambian vitumbuwa, the prefix changing with the Bantu language. The dishes differ: Malawian zitumbuwa are banana based, Zambian vitumbuwa are usually plain, and coastal vitumbua use coconut and rice flour. One name, several dishes.

Substitutions

• Rice flour gives the crispest result, maize flour is what is always in a Malawian house, and wheat flour gives a softer breadier fritter. A mixture of rice and maize works well.
• Frozen overripe bananas replace fresh and are ideal for this.
• Sugar can be left out entirely if the bananas are ripe enough, which is common.
• Nutmeg or cinnamon are both used; the plainest version has neither.
• A splash of milk loosens a batter that has come out too stiff.
• Any neutral high-smoke-point oil works for frying.

Variations

• Zambian vitumbuwa are the closest relative, usually made without banana.
• Swahili coastal vitumbua, made with rice flour and coconut milk in a dimpled pan, gave the name to both.
• Mandazi, the East African fried dough, is the other widespread relative.
• A version with grated coconut added is made where coconut is available.
• Some cooks add a mashed sweet potato alongside the banana, which makes a denser fritter.
• A pancake version, cooked flat on a griddle rather than deep-fried, is made in some households.

History

Overripe bananas mashed into maize flour and fried, a way of using fruit too soft to sell.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zitumbuwa?

Zitumbuwa is a snack from Malawi: banana fritters of mashed banana and rice flour. Overripe bananas mashed into maize flour and fried, a way of using fruit too soft to sell.

How long does Zitumbuwa take to make?

Zitumbuwa takes 20 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 Zitumbuwa?

Yes, within limits. Rice flour gives the crispest result, maize flour is what is always in a Malawian house, and wheat flour gives a softer breadier fritter. A mixture of rice and maize works well. Frozen overripe bananas replace fresh and are ideal for this. Sugar can be left out entirely if the bananas are ripe enough, which is common. Nutmeg or cinnamon are both used; the plainest version has neither. A splash of milk loosens a batter that has come out too stiff. Any neutral high-smoke-point oil works for frying.

What is the most important thing to get right in Zitumbuwa?

Leave bananas at room temperature to ripen. Put them in a paper bag to hurry it. Freeze them peeled in a bag. That is why the banana must be very soft. Peel the bananas into a large bowl. Mash them thoroughly with a fork.