COUNTRY:                           TOGO

DISH:                                     ABLO

CONTRIBUTED BY:             Martine D. Akofa, Spouse to the Ambassador

 

Ingredients

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup corn flour

2 cups rice flour

1 qt. water

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 0.75 oz. packet of active dry yeast

 

Method

  1. In a large cooking pot, mix together the corn meal, corn flour and ½ quart of water.
  2. Bring the mixture to a vigorous boil, then turn the flame off and mix in the remaining 1/2 quart of water – this is to loosen the mixture as well as to drop the temperature.
  3. Add and stir into the mixture the 2 cups rice flour, ¼ cup sugar, 1 packet of yeast and 1 tsp. baking powder. Blend everything together thoroughly.
  4. Set the pot aside, uncovered, for one full hour. (Note: the yeast is most active at cool to warm room temperatures. If the room temperature is below 20 degrees C (68 F) or above 40 C (100 F), the yeast will not raise your bread mixture).
  5. One hour later, the dough should have increased significantly in size, and have a porous texture. Use a stiff whisk or wooden spoon to stir the dough until smooth again.
  6. Spoon the dough into bread or cupcake tins, then place the tins inside a very large cooking pot or baking dish. Fill the bottom of the pot or baking dish with about 1/2″ to 3/4″ of water, cover, and bring to a boil.
  7. Steam the dough for about 15 minutes or until it becomes firm and will hold a shape when moulded. You may need to work in batches, depending on the size of your baking tins and the pot or dish you are steaming the dough in.
  8. Allow to cool enough to handle, then shape the steamed Ablo into serving sized balls before presenting to the table.
  9. Serve with tomato stew or spinach stew