Halima’s Home Cooking@halima_kitchen

Breakfast

Masa (Rice Cakes)

Name: Masa (Rice Cakes)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 620 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: 300 g non-parboiled short-grain rice; 60 g cooked plain rice (Freshly cooked and cooled promptly); 4 g instant yeast; 25 g sugar; 0.5 tsp salt; 250 ml water (For blending, plus 1 litre for soaking); 3 tbsp neutral oil (For the pan)

Little yeast-raised rice cakes with lightly crisp shells and soft centres. Rice masa is a familiar northern preparation, often cooked in a pan with rounded wells. Its batter shares ingredients with sinasir, but the pan produces a thicker cake. Recipes differ in sweetness and fermentation; this home version uses commercial yeast and a short rise. Cultural context: Masa names several Nigerian foods; this entry is the northern rice cake cooked in a well-shaped pan.

Cooked_masa.jpg by Zmu'az4Z, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 · CC BY 4.0

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None by this package; original downloaded file bytes preserved. Source-file adaptations, if any, are credited separately.

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20 minPreparation

30 minCooking

4Servings

Allow 570 additional minutes for resting / soaking. Total: 620 minutes.

What you’ll need

4 servings

300 g non-parboiled short-grain rice
60 g cooked plain riceFreshly cooked and cooled promptly
4 g instant yeast
25 g sugar
0.5 tsp salt
250 ml waterFor blending, plus 1 litre for soaking
3 tbsp neutral oilFor the pan

Let’s get cooking

1
Cover the raw rice with 1 litre water and soak in the refrigerator for 8 hours. Drain well. If preparing the cooked rice during the soak, cool it promptly, cover and refrigerate it until blending; do not leave it at room temperature through the soak.
2
Blend drained rice with 200 ml of the measured blending water until smooth. Add cooked rice and blend again. Add the remaining water only as needed for a thick, pourable batter.
3
Stir in yeast and sugar. Cover in a roomy bowl and leave at ordinary room temperature for 60–90 minutes, until visibly aerated. Stir in salt. Cook immediately once risen.
4
Heat a masa or aebleskiver pan over medium-low heat. Brush each well with oil and fill about three-quarters full with batter.
5
Cook for 3–4 minutes, turn carefully with a skewer and cook 2–3 minutes more. Cut open the first cake: its centre should be fully set, without wet batter. Adjust heat and repeat.
6
Serve warm with miyan taushe, a savoury sauce or a little sugar.

A little kitchen wisdom

A short commercial-yeast rise gives milder flavour than a long-fermented batter A flat frying pan makes small rice pancakes rather than the characteristic rounded masa Do not keep cooked rice or batter warm overnight Timing: active preparation 20 min; cooking 30 min; additional passive time 570 min; conservative planning allowance 620 min. Some stages may overlap. For Recipe.ng display, prep_minutes includes the additional passive time; it is not all hands-on work. Recipe status: Research draft; not kitchen-tested. Allergens and checks: None specifically listed; verify every ingredient and product label.

Recipe notes & sources

Research draft; not kitchen-tested

Also known as: Waina, Hausa rice cakes

Masa names several Nigerian foods; this entry is the northern rice cake cooked in a well-shaped pan.

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Rice_Sinasir.jpg by Halima Waziri, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0

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None by this package; original downloaded file bytes preserved. Source-file adaptations, if any, are credited separately.

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Breakfast

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Halima’s Home Cooking@halima_kitchen

Breakfast

Masa (Rice Cakes)

Cooked_masa.jpg by Zmu'az4Z, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 · CC BY 4.0

Image details

None by this package; original downloaded file bytes preserved. Source-file adaptations, if any, are credited separately.

Full source and image record

20 minPreparation

30 minCooking

4Servings

Allow 570 additional minutes for resting / soaking. Total: 620 minutes.

What you’ll need

4 servings

300 g non-parboiled short-grain rice
60 g cooked plain riceFreshly cooked and cooled promptly
4 g instant yeast
25 g sugar
0.5 tsp salt
250 ml waterFor blending, plus 1 litre for soaking
3 tbsp neutral oilFor the pan

Let’s get cooking

1
Cover the raw rice with 1 litre water and soak in the refrigerator for 8 hours. Drain well. If preparing the cooked rice during the soak, cool it promptly, cover and refrigerate it until blending; do not leave it at room temperature through the soak.
2
Blend drained rice with 200 ml of the measured blending water until smooth. Add cooked rice and blend again. Add the remaining water only as needed for a thick, pourable batter.
3
Stir in yeast and sugar. Cover in a roomy bowl and leave at ordinary room temperature for 60–90 minutes, until visibly aerated. Stir in salt. Cook immediately once risen.
4
Heat a masa or aebleskiver pan over medium-low heat. Brush each well with oil and fill about three-quarters full with batter.
5
Cook for 3–4 minutes, turn carefully with a skewer and cook 2–3 minutes more. Cut open the first cake: its centre should be fully set, without wet batter. Adjust heat and repeat.
6
Serve warm with miyan taushe, a savoury sauce or a little sugar.