Frustration in Comoros.

Excuse my disappearance last week. I’ve been battling the 1-2 punch of the flu and covid. Apparently, you can get them both simultaneously (am I the only one who doesn’t know this?). After several days of high fevers, I made my way to the doctor and was told that I looked “really sick” 🙄. I was tested for both, given strong prescription meds, and sent home to drink Pedialyte on repeat which just tastes like Jell-O mix before being refrigerated. I digress. 

The next country to visit was Comoros, but it is so tiny that there aren’t any restaurants here in New York dedicated to its cuisine. Some facts about Comoros are that it’s an archipelago made of three islands situated in Southeastern Africa in the Indian Ocean. They gained their independence from France in 1975 and are a largely Sunni Muslim country. I’m still a bit wobbly in the kitchen, so I decided to tackle in my crappy state of health a quick bread called mkatra foutra.

Sesame flatbread.

Mkatra foutra: Breadcake? Panbread? Pancake bread? What exactly is it? This yeasted Comorian bread comes together in a loose batter and is cooked on a griddle like a pancake. The result feels like a flatbread, but kind of tastes a bit like a raw pancake. I’ve never been so unsure of a recipe for this series as I have with this one. Usually, if I’ve failed at a recipe it’s pretty clear, but with this one, I’m not so sure. I watched videos and read countless versions of recipes and they all looked like my bread, but I wasn’t sure if they tasted like mine.

Looks cooked but doesn’t taste like it. Maybe my covid tastebuds?

The recipe I used calls for flour, water, yeast, salt, an egg, coconut milk, and sesame seeds. Everything minus the sesame seeds is thoroughly combined and left to rest for an hour. Once the doughy batter is ready, you fire up a pan and pour some sticky batter to cook for a couple of minutes on one side while you sprinkle sesame seeds on the uncooked side then flip.

Seems pretty straightforward right? Well, it wasn’t. I made several flatbreads and they all seemed a bit undercooked inside. You know when you haven’t cooked your pancake all the way so it’s a bit gummy instead of fluffy? That’s what I was experiencing. 

After a couple of attempts I quit because my covid flu brain wouldn’t allow me to work any further. As always I love talking about failures in the kitchen (one of the reasons I started the BURNT podcast) and so this failure is no different. Perhaps someone else would like to attempt making this bread and tell me what I did wrong. Perhaps, Wordloaf’s Andrew Janjigian could help!?

Mkatra Foutra (Adapted from Foreign Fork)

2 cups flour

1/4 cup warm water (to activate the yeast)

1 teaspoon of active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 egg, beaten

1 1/4 cups of coconut milk

Sesame seeds

In a small bowl activate the yeast with water for 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl combine yeast slurry, salt, egg, and coconut milk with a silicone spatula or spoon. Let the sticky dough rest covered with a tea towel for an hour in a dark warm place.

Once the dough has sufficiently rested heat up a medium frying pan over low to medium heat. Lightly oil the pan with a paper towel and scoop 1/3 cup of batter onto the pan. While the bread cooks sprinkle sesame seeds (about a tablespoon) onto the uncooked side and then flip over to cook. Each side should be brown and cooked for 3-4 minutes. Eat while hot.

Cook. Eat. Repeat.

Natalie 💗✨