Making bread rolls on Domwe Island, Lake Malawi
Posted by Clare Bock | September 21st, 2011 | 0 Comments
My husband Gary and I recentlty spent a week relaxing on Domwe and Mumbo Islands on Lake Malawi – kayaking, swimming, snorkelling, reading and sunbathing. It was a good recipe for all us city folk who need a break from the daily grind of our city lives.
The only way I could convince hubby to go away without the kids was to pander to his needs and suggest we do something he wanted to do. He sent me a link for Kayak Africa and I seized the opportunity and booked straight away.
We spent the first three nights on Domwe Island, which is very rustic and has accommodation for three couples in safari tents. We chose the option of Kayak Africa supplying us with food packs and Chef Alex cooking all our meals.
The highlight of every meal for me was the fresh rolls he baked in his reed kitchen. Here is Chef Alex’s recipe.
“So first of all I take a cup of lukewarm water and add half a tablespoon salt, half a tablespoon of sugar and stir to dissolve. The water mustn’t be too salty or too sweet. Then I pour the liquid into a bowl and add two tablespoons yeast. I mix everything together in the bowl. Then I sift in the flour, starting with two big spoons, and keep on adding it until the dough is tight. After that, add three tablespoons of oil and knead the dough in the bowl until the dough is elastic. Then cover the bowl with a dish towel and the lid of a pot and leave it to rise in a warm spot for about 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it grows up like a hippo.
“Next I oil my baking pan very well and, taking pieces of dough one at a time, roll the dough in my hands until it is smooth and there are no cracks. I put the rolls into the pan one by one. Once the pan is full, cover it with the dishtowel again and leave the rolls to rise for about 20 minutes. Set the oven to high. When the rolls are ready and I can see the oven is hot, I put it into the oven and turn the it down to medium. Then I check the time as the rolls only take 10 minutes to bake. When I see they are brown, I open the oven door and tap each roll with a knife to see if they are baked. With this he tapped the knife on a wooden bowl and a metal bowl to demonstrate the sound of baked rolls to me. “Put oil all over the rolls when they come out”, he added. That is just what he did: my mouth was watering and I could hardly wait to have lunch.
