Recipes · Nigerian · Breakfast
Masa (Hausa Fermented Rice Cakes with Yaji Spice)
One serving has 493 kcal and 9 g protein, and at least a fifth of a woman's daily need of manganese (72%), folate (54%), thiamin (53%), niacin (40%), copper (27%) and selenium (26%). Ready in 640 minutes.

- Preparation: 615 min
- Cooking: 25 min
- Makes: 1 serving (203 g)
- Difficulty: Medium
- Diets: Vegan, Dairy-free, Gluten-free
- Contains: peanut
Ingredients
- 70 g Short-grain rice (tuwo rice)
- 30 g Cooked rice
- 10 g Onion
- 60 g Water
- 1 g Dried yeast
- 8 g Sugar
- 0.3 g Salt
- 0.3 g Bicarbonate of soda
- 10 g Groundnut oil
- 12 g Roasted peanuts (for the yaji)
- 1 g Cayenne pepper (for the yaji)
- 0.5 g Ground ginger (for the yaji)
- 0.3 g Garlic powder (for the yaji)
Method
- Wash the rice and soak it in cold water overnight, for about 8 hours.
- Drain it and blend it with the cooked rice, the chopped onion and just enough of the water, about 60 ml, to make a thick, smooth batter, like a thick pancake batter.
- Stir in the yeast and half the sugar, cover and leave in a warm place for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until bubbly and almost doubled. Then stir in the rest of the sugar, the salt and the bicarbonate of soda dissolved in a teaspoon of water.
- Heat a masa pan (a cast-iron pan with round hollows, like an aebleskiver or paniyaram pan) over medium heat. Put ½ teaspoon of oil in each hollow and fill them two thirds full with batter. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the bottoms are golden and the tops bubbly and set at the edges, then turn them with a skewer and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
- For the yaji, grind the roasted peanuts with the cayenne, ground ginger and garlic powder to a coarse powder.
- Serve the masa warm, sprinkled with yaji, as masa sellers do on northern Nigerian mornings; it is also eaten with miyan taushe (pumpkin soup) or a little sugar.
Nutrition per serving
| Nutrient | Per serving | Share of a day's need |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 493 kcal | 23% |
| Carbohydrates | 76.9 g | |
| Water | 99.1 mL | |
| Fiber | 3.9 g | 13% |
| Protein | 9 g | 19% |
| Tryptophan | 0.1 g | |
| Threonine | 0.31 g | |
| Isoleucine | 0.35 g | |
| Leucine | 0.66 g | |
| Lysine | 0.34 g | |
| Methionine | 0.17 g | |
| Cystine | 0.15 g | |
| Phenylalanine | 0.46 g | |
| Tyrosine | 0.31 g | |
| Valine | 0.48 g | |
| Histidine | 0.21 g | |
| Fat | 16.7 g | |
| Monounsaturated | 8 g | |
| Polyunsaturated | 4.6 g | |
| Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) | 0 g | |
| Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) | 0 g | |
| Omega-6 | 4.5 g | |
| Saturated | 2.8 g | |
| Trans-Fats | 0 g | |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | |
| Calcium | 18.9 mg | 2% |
| Copper | 0.24 mg | 27% |
| Iron | 3.8 mg | 21% |
| Magnesium | 46 mg | 15% |
| Manganese | 1.3 mg | 72% |
| Phosphorus | 137 mg | 20% |
| Potassium | 194 mg | 4% |
| Selenium | 14.6 µg | 26% |
| Sodium | 204 mg | |
| Zinc | 1.4 mg | 18% |
| Thiamin (vitamin B1) | 0.58 mg | 53% |
| Riboflavin (vitamin B2) | 0.12 mg | 11% |
| Niacin (vitamin B3) | 5.6 mg | 40% |
| Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) | 1.3 mg | 26% |
| Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) | 0.26 mg | 20% |
| Folate (vitamin B9) | 217 µg | 54% |
| Cobalamin (vitamin B12) | 0 µg | 0% |
| Choline | 10.3 mg | 2% |
| Vitamin A | 20.8 µg | 3% |
| Vitamin C | 1.5 mg | 2% |
| Vitamin D (D2 + D3) | 0 IU | 0% |
| Vitamin E | 2.5 mg | 16% |
| Vitamin K | 0.92 µg | 1% |
Shares of a day's need are for a woman of 30, 165 cm, 60 kg, lightly active, by the US and Canadian Dietary Reference Intakes. SustainBite works out each person's own needs, by the standard where they live: the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations in Norway, the UK's, EFSA's in the EU.
Climate footprint
0.3 kg CO2e a serving: about average for breakfasts, sides, desserts and drinks on SustainBite. Source: ADEME, Agribalyse 3.2.
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