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.

Masa (Hausa Fermented Rice Cakes with Yaji Spice)
Photo: Zmu'az4Z, CC BY 4.0 · source
  • 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

  1. Wash the rice and soak it in cold water overnight, for about 8 hours.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. For the yaji, grind the roasted peanuts with the cayenne, ground ginger and garlic powder to a coarse powder.
  6. 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

NutrientPer servingShare of a day's need
Energy493 kcal23%
Carbohydrates76.9 g
Water99.1 mL
Fiber3.9 g13%
Protein9 g19%
Tryptophan0.1 g
Threonine0.31 g
Isoleucine0.35 g
Leucine0.66 g
Lysine0.34 g
Methionine0.17 g
Cystine0.15 g
Phenylalanine0.46 g
Tyrosine0.31 g
Valine0.48 g
Histidine0.21 g
Fat16.7 g
Monounsaturated8 g
Polyunsaturated4.6 g
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)0 g
Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)0 g
Omega-64.5 g
Saturated2.8 g
Trans-Fats0 g
Cholesterol0 mg
Calcium18.9 mg2%
Copper0.24 mg27%
Iron3.8 mg21%
Magnesium46 mg15%
Manganese1.3 mg72%
Phosphorus137 mg20%
Potassium194 mg4%
Selenium14.6 µg26%
Sodium204 mg
Zinc1.4 mg18%
Thiamin (vitamin B1)0.58 mg53%
Riboflavin (vitamin B2)0.12 mg11%
Niacin (vitamin B3)5.6 mg40%
Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)1.3 mg26%
Pyridoxine (vitamin B6)0.26 mg20%
Folate (vitamin B9)217 µg54%
Cobalamin (vitamin B12)0 µg0%
Choline10.3 mg2%
Vitamin A20.8 µg3%
Vitamin C1.5 mg2%
Vitamin D (D2 + D3)0 IU0%
Vitamin E2.5 mg16%
Vitamin K0.92 µg1%

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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