Name: Madagascar: Mofo Gasy
Yield: 3
Cuisine: Madagascar
Ingredients: Basmati Rice: 1 cup; Full Fat Coconut Milk: 1 cup; Unsweetened Coconut Flakes: 1/4 cup; Granulated Sugar: 1/4 cup; Active Dry Yeast: 1 tsp; Kosher Salt: 1/4 tsp; Ground Cardamom: 1/2 tsp; Coconut Oil; Honey

Ingredients

1 cup Basmati Rice

1 cup Full Fat Coconut Milk

1/4 cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

1 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1/4 tsp Kosher Salt

1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom

Coconut Oil

Honey

Directions

In 2017, I made what remains my favorite New Year’s resolution of all time: to cook a recipe from every country in the world. While I’ve not yet fulfilled it, I’ve not given up! Looking back, I was shocked to realize it was four whole years ago I started this journey, and even more shocked to realize I’d not cooked from a single new country in 2020. This year, I hope to change that and chip away at the remaining 96 on my list.

My mom inspired me with a beautiful new cookbook “In Bibi’s Kitchen” which features recipes of grandmothers from 8 African countries, and the stories that go along with them – my favorite part! I was excited to find that four of them were countries I’d not yet cooked from.

I wanted to get started right away this year with mofo gasy, yeasted rice and coconut pancakes that are a common street food in Madagascar, eaten for breakfast with coffee. Rice is the cornerstone of the Malagasy diet and is typically consumed at every meal and this recipe is no exception.

Traditionally, these are made in a special pan that forms them into spheres – similar to an ebelskiver pan, which we actually have. Unfortunately I didn’t think to use it until we were sitting down to eat, but in the future!

My batter didn’t rise as much as I’d hoped (I think my yeast may be old), making these a bit thinner than intended, but they were delicious drizzled with honey a friend bought me from the bees at the Congressional Cemetery! I list these as serving three, but if we’re being honest… Courtney and I ate the whole batch in one sitting.

Fun fact: Almost 90% of the plants and animals found in Madagascar can’t be found anywhere else

Recipe Source: In Bibi’s Kitchen

Steps

1 Done *4 hours or overnight*	Rinse & Soak Rice Place the rice in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse with cold water, stirring the rice gently until the water runs clear - about one minute. Place the rinsed rice in a bowl, cover with cold water, and soak for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
2 Done *1 hour*	Make the Batter Drain the rice and transfer it to a blender. Add the coconut milk, coconut flakes, sugar, yeast, salt and cardamom. Puree until very smooth. Pour the batter into a large bowl, cover with a clean towel and let sit in a warm spot in your kitchen until bubbles form on the surface and the batter has risen and is quite thick, about one hour. Note: My batter didn't really properly rise/thicken, which is why I think my pancakes were very thin. It may be because my yeast is old.
3 Done 10 minutes	Cook the Pancakes Place about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large non-stick skillet and set over medium heat. Swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet. You'll know it's up to proper heat when a drop of batter sizzles on contact. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the skillet to form small pancakes, about 2 inches in diameter, leaving plenty of space in between them. Cook until they start to bubble, 1-2 minutes, and then carefully flip and cook another minute on the other side. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm while you repeat with the remaining batter, adding coconut oil to the pan between batches.
4 Done 1 minute	To Serve Serve warm, drizzled with honey.