Ubugari recipe

Burundian staple dough beaten stiff in the pot until it pulls away from the sides and can be pinched into a scoop.

30 minuteseasy4 ingredients

Ingredients

• 250 g maize flour
• 150 g cassava flour
• 1000 ml water
• 1 tsp salt

How to make Ubugari

1. Bring 1 litre of water to a rolling boil in a heavy pot.
2. Mix 150 g maize flour with 150 g cassava flour. The cassava gives ubugari its stretch, the maize its body; either flour alone also works, but the mix is the everyday Burundian version.
3. Rain the flour into the boiling water in handfuls, beating hard with a flat wooden stirrer so no lumps form.
4. Keep adding flour until the mass is almost too stiff to stir. Add 1 tsp salt if you want it seasoned; many households add none, because the sauce carries the salt.
5. Lower the heat, cover and let it steam 5 minutes, then beat again, pressing the paste against the side of the pot.
6. Repeat that steam-and-beat twice more, about 20 minutes in total, until the dough pulls cleanly away from the pot and holds its shape.
7. Turn it out onto a wet plate and shape it into one smooth mound with wet hands.
8. Serve immediately: diners pinch off a piece, press a dent in it with the thumb and use it to scoop beans, isombe or meat sauce. Ubugari hardens as it cools, so it is not reheated.

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