Soft, spongy little rice cakes from northern Nigeria, made from a fermented rice batter cooked in a special dimpled pan until the edges crisp and the centre stays airy. Also called waina, they are slightly tangy and faintly sweet, eaten for breakfast or as a snack with pepper sauce or stew.
Masa is a cherished delicacy of the Hausa of northern Nigeria, where griddles of the little cakes sizzle at roadside stalls in the cool of the morning. The batter is fermented overnight, a technique that turns humble rice into something light and tangy, and the cakes are cooked in a distinctive round-moulded pan that gives them their signature shape.
Crisp and golden at the edges, pillowy and tender in the middle, with a pleasant sour-sweet tang from the fermentation. Light yet satisfying, the cakes soak up sauce beautifully. Eaten hot off the pan, they are comforting and a little addictive.
Overnight fermentation produces acids and gas that give the cakes their tangy flavour and airy, spongy crumb. The dimpled pan and hot oil crisp the exterior quickly while the moist interior stays soft and steamy.
Variations
Made from rice or, commonly, corn; served savoury with miyan taushe (pumpkin soup), pepper soup, yaji spice or pepper sauce, or sweet with honey and sugar
On the Palate
Where Masa sits in the Nigerian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 5How it's made
8 steps · 30 min
- 110 min
Soak raw rice in water for several hours, along with a small portion of cooked rice.
- 25 min
Drain and blend the rice with a little water into a thick, smooth batter.
- 3360 min
Cover the batter and leave it to ferment overnight until slightly risen and tangy.
Watch outThe batter's ready when it smells tangy and has risen with bubbles across the top — flat and sweet-smelling means it hasn't fermented enough.
- 460 min
Stir in a little yeast, sugar and salt and let it rest until bubbly.
- 54 min
Heat a dimpled masa pan and brush each mould lightly with oil.
- 66 min
Spoon batter into the hot moulds and let the bottoms set and brown.
Watch outDon't rush the flip — wait until the edges look dry and the bottom lifts cleanly with a golden crust; too soon and the cake tears.
- 76 min
Flip each cake to cook the other side until golden and cooked through.
Watch outIt's cooked through when both sides are golden and the center springs back to a light press instead of staying wet.
- 82 min
Serve warm with a spicy pepper sauce, honey or stew.
