As I flick through my little collection of East African cookbooks, I feel the same comfort and joy as I do when I cosy up with my favourite Indian ones. Both are full of spices, simple veggies and coconut milk in almost everything.

The Swahili cooking I know and love is fresh, vibrant and full of love.

My connection with East Africa

I’ve grown up with a mishmash of Indian, African and British food. My parents are British nationals, born in East Africa. My father in Tanzania and my mother in Kenya. I’m British, born and bred.

This means I have been lucky enough to experience the culinary cultures of all these cuisines.

The Indian influence on East African cooking (and vice-versa!)

For my generation, it feels like the Indian influence on East African cooking is a hush-hush camp, with recipes hidden away inside the spirits of expat grandparents, parents, aunties and uncles.

As sad as it may sound, I’m a 29-year old who’s worried that Zanzibar Trail Mix, Malindi Halwa and Ugandan Kasodi will one day be forgotten.

What are Quick & Fluffy Vitumbua?

In the name of doing my bit to preserve the East African cuisine so many Asian-East Africans are so proud of, I’d like to introduce you to Vitumbua.

These Tanzanian rice flour doughnuts are a favourite of my saintly Bapu, Gunwantrai Modha and I completely understand why.

Born in Tanzania, my dad his brothers think of these dishes as fuel food – they’re good for the soul and all that.

How to make Vitumbua

Vitumbua should be golden and crunchy on the outside and like a delicate morsel of cardamom-scented cloud on the inside.

The batter is made with coconut milk which makes these cakey doughnuts pure white in the middle and melt-in-the-mouth.

Vitumbua: Yeasted Tanzanian Doughnuts with coconut milk

The leavening agent in my version is yeast but many recipes also use baking powder. Traditionally, they’re made using soaked rice but I’ve simplified it slightly by using rice flour.

Rice flour is readily available in shops these days. Of course, if you can’t find rice flour, go ahead and use soaked raw rice.

Can I make gluten-free Vitumbua?

Yes! Simply replace the plain flour with an equal measure of rice flour (2 tbsp). You can also use 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch).

How to serve Quick & Fluffy Vitumbua

My fluffy Vitumbua are perfect with tea in the morning or if you’re a bit more adventurous, with a spicy kidney bean and coconut stew for dinner. Sweet and savoury is so lush!

What kind of pan do I need to make Quick & Fluffy Vitumbua?

If you have a Vitumbua or Appam/Paniyaram pan, please use one. If you don’t, you can use a greased cupcake tin. You’ll need to bake them in a 180C oven for 10 minutes, flipping them over halfway through the cooking time.

Cardamom: Finishing touches

I dust my Vitumbua with cardamom sugar which isn’t traditional but it adds a delicious additional aroma on top of what’s already in the batter.

Indeed, I find that finishing a dish with gentle spices is a bold way of bringing another dimension to the table.

Quick & Fluffy Vitumbua Recipe

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Quick & Fluffy Vitumbua – Tanzanian Coconut Doughnuts

These light and fluffy East African coconut and cardamom doughnuts just melt in your mouth. They’re perfect with masala chai and are a popular street food all over Tanzania.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine African

Keyword african, cardamom, pancakes, rice flour, tanzanian

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8

Equipment

• Appam pan

Ingredients

For the vitumbua batter:

• 220 g rice flour
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 400 ml full-fat coconut milk
• 100 g caster sugar
• 7 g fast-action dried yeast
• 200 ml warm water approx. 32°C
• 3 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cardamom seeds from 5-6 cardamom pods ground
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or almond extract optional

For the cardamom icing sugar:

• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 whole cardamom pods seeds remove and finely ground

Instructions

• In a large bowl, mix together the rice flour, plain flour, sugar, salt, ground cardamom and dried yeast.
• Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and then add the coconut milk, warm water, oil and vanilla/almond extract (if using). Whisk the ingredients well until you have a smooth, lump-free batter. It should be the consistency of dosa or idli batter. Cover with cling film and allow the batter to rest in a warm place for 30-40 minutes.
• Grease a 12-hole vitumbua or appam/paniyaram pan with sunflower or vegetable oil. By now, your batter should be bubbly and frothy. Allow the pan to heat up a little and then use a small jug or cup to fill the holes of the pan with the batter, almost right to the top.
• Cook on a low heat until the tops of the batter is looks dry to the touch, about 3 minutes. Use a cocktail stick to flip the vitumbua over. They should be golden brown on the bottom. Cook the other side for 3-4 minutes or until golden. Use the cocktail stick to remove them from the pan.
• To make the cardamom sugar, combine the icing sugar and ground cardamom. Use a tea strainer or small sieve to dust the sugar over the top. Serve the vitumbua immediately with hot masala chai or strong coffee.

Notes

• This recipe makes 48 small vitumbua, serving about 8 people.
• I bought my paniyaram pan from an Indian kitchenware store in Leicester, UK. You can also buy these online. Look out for a heavy, non-stick piece of kit rather than steel to make removing the vitumbua easier.
• Alternatively, you can also use a cupcake tin. Your vitumbua will be larger, disc shaped doughnuts but they’ll still taste great. Ensure the tin is well greased and fill the cupcake holes just halfway before popping into an oven pre-heated at 180°C for 10 minutes. Flip them halfway through baking.
• Store cooked vitumbua in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Crispy Potato Bhajia!

Love Sanjana

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