breakfastVegetarianPescatarianDairy-free

Vitumbua (Coconut Rice Pancakes)

Name: Vitumbua (Coconut Rice Pancakes)
Yield: 5 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups finely-ground rice flour (or plain rice); 1 cup coconut milk (or coconut milk powder); 1 teaspoon yeast; ½–1 cup sugar (brown, white, or coconut); Oil for frying; 8 tablespoons plain wheat flour (possibly whole wheat); 2 egg white; 2 teaspoons ground cardamom seeds; 2–3 tablespoon coconut flakes; ½–1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg; ½ teaspoon almond extract; About ½ cup water if cooking with rice flour and/or coconut milk powder

Vitumbua are baked goods commonly found in Tanzania. They are often eaten for breakfast and are found sold in the streets in many places. The ingredients may vary based on taste and availability, however the base ingredient is rice. It can be used in plain form or as flour.

From Wikibooks CookbookNo reviews yet· 0 commentsMedium0 made it

An illustration of the kind of dish. There is no photo of this recipe yet.

Ingredients

Makes

2 cups finely-ground rice flour (or plain rice)
1 cup coconut milk (or coconut milk powder)
1 teaspoon yeast
½–1 cup sugar (brown, white, or coconut)
Oil for frying
8 tablespoons plain wheat flour (possibly whole wheat)
2 egg white
2 teaspoons ground cardamom seeds
2–3 tablespoon coconut flakes
½–1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon almond extract
About ½ cup water if cooking with rice flour and/or coconut milk powder

Ingredients for 5 servings (1 kg) · the original recipe

Method

1
If plain rice is used:: Soak the rice and let it soften for at least 4 hours, maybe over night.
2
Drain the rice.
3
Blend the rice with the other ingredients to a batter.
4
If rice flour is used:: Mix all ingredients, adding water so that a rather thick batter forms.
5
Cooking: Let the covered batter rise in a warm place until it at least doubled in size and bubbles form on the surface. This may take about 45–60 minutes, and some advise letting rise overnight.
Stovetop
6
Stir the batter.
7
If you have, you should use a vitumbua pan; otherwise, an ordinary pan has to suffice. Oil the pan and heat it.
8
Fill the 'holes' (of the vitumbua pan) about ¾ full with batter. Let it cook for about 2–3 minutes; it should starts to brown. Flip the vitumbua and cook the other side.
9
Let cool slightly.

Recipe from Wikibooks Cookbook, written by Wikibooks contributors. Used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; the ingredient list and method on this page are taken from that page and edited (its notes, tips and variations are not reproduced), and are available under the same licence. The macros, equipment tags and scaling are Ma Kitchen’s own and are not the source’s figures. Ma Kitchen is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wikibooks Cookbook. Copied on 2026-11-12.