Vibibi (East African Coconut Rice Pancakes)

Vibibi (East African Coconut Rice Pancakes)! Vibibi, a popular street food amongst the Swahili-speaking communities in East Africa, are made from a fermented batter of ground rice and coconut milk and served for breakfast or as a snack with a hot cup of tea or coffee.

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A very good recipe to make when you are bored of the regular breakfast. Here is an easy-to-follow recipe with step-by-step pictures, helpful info plus tips that will help you make ‘Vibibi’ easy way at home. I hope you try this recipe and it becomes one of your favorites, just as it is one of mine.  

You need to start the recipe ahead of time that you plan to serve them. Most of the time there is idle time where you just have to leave the rice to soak or the batter to ferment and go on with your routine, so, it just requires around 30 minutes of hands–on time.

What are Vibibi?

Cuisine: African, East African, Kenyan, Swahili
Singular: Kibibi, Plural: Vibibi

Vibibi are popular street food especially amongst the Swahili-speaking communities in East Africa such as Kenya and Tanzania. The name ‘vibibi‘ is a Swahili word, that translates to ‘little ladies’ as they are small and delicate in appearance.

Something About ‘Swahili’

The Swahili people are an ethnic and cultural group inhabiting East Africa, primarily residing on the Swahili coast that includes Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Comoros, northern Mozambique, some parts of Malawi, and eastern Congo and they speak the Swahili language. Swahili culture and cuisine have influences from Indian, Arabic, Greek, Roman, Persian, Malay, and Chinese.

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How Do You Make ‘Vibibi’?

Vibibi are made from a fermented batter of rice and coconut milk. The batter is traditionally made by soaking the rice for several hours and then grinding it to a smooth paste. I like to add a tablespoon of desiccated coconut after soaking it in water and grinding it with rice.

You can also make the batter with rice flour instead of using raw rice and it’s easier and faster. Some recipes also call for adding a few tablespoons of plain flour.

The ground rice paste or rice flour is combined with coconut milk, yeast, salt, sugar, and cardamom powder to make the batter. After good fermentation, you can cook Vibibi just like you make regular pancakes.

You can make the batter with or without eggs. I tried both versions- well, I love it both ways! The pancakes made with no-egg batter are crispier and taste milky while the pancakes made with eggs are fluffy and soft.

The ingredients you’ll need

Here are the ingredients you’ll need. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.

• Raw rice – Use white raw rice (I used Thai white rice)
• Rice flour – Use white rice flour if you make the batter with rice flour
• Plain flour – Optional but you can use a few tablespoons of plain to adjust the consistency of batter, if desired.
• Coconut milk -Use fresh or canned coconut milk. Or coconut powder dissolving in warm water
• Desiccated coconut – Optional but recommended. Sub with freshly grated coconut.
• Sugar – Adjust to your taste
• Salt – Adjust to your taste
• Yeast – Use either instant yeast or active dry yeast
• Cardamom powder – Used to flavor the batter
• Eggs – Optional
• Baking Soda – Not traditional but a pinch of baking soda helps to get fluffier pancakes with characteristic bubbles on the surface
• Cooking oil

How to Make the Batter with Raw Rice

• Step 1 (Soak the rice): Soak the rice for about 6 hours or overnight, which helps soften the grains and grind consequently to create a smooth batter.
• Step 2 (Grind the soaked rice): Grind it to a smooth paste with adequate coconut milk. You will still find some tiny grains of rice in your ground rice paste but it’s unavoidable.
• Step 3 (Make the batter): The rice paste is then combined with yeast, salt, sugar, and ground cardamom to make the batter.
• Step 4 (Fermentation): Leave the batter until it becomes bubbly and frothy for about 6 hours or overnight.
• Step 5 (Adjust the consistency): After fermentation, adjust the consistency of the batter adding warm coconut milk/water as needed.
• Step 6 (Add a pinch of baking soda): Add a pinch of baking soda dissolved in a little water to achieve a bubbly surface enhancing the texture of pancakes.

How to Make the Batter with Rice Flour

• Step 1 (Make the batter): In a large bowl, mix rice flour, plain flour, salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar, yeast, and fine coconut. Add coconut milk a little at a time to make a smooth batter without any lumps.
• Step 2 (Fermentation): Cover and keep in a warm place for 2 to 4 hours until you see bubbles on the top and frothy.
• Step 3 (Adjust the consistency): Stir the batter gently. Add the rest of the sugar and ground cardamom, and mix well. Season with salt as needed. The batter should be pourable, add some warm water/coconut milk and adjust the consistency as needed.
• Step 4 (Add a pinch of baking soda): Add a pinch of baking soda dissolved in a little water to achieve a bubbly surface enhancing the texture of pancakes.

Useful Tips

Here are some useful tips that will help you make the best Vibibi.

• It is important to allow the rice to soak properly to grind it to a smooth paste.
• Make sure you add the coconut milk a little at a time while grinding the soaked rice until you get a creamy consistency of batter.
• Use a large bowl if you choose to ferment the batter for longer hours, as the batter will rise and may spill over if the bowl is small.
• The time the batter takes to ferment will vary depending on many factors, like the temperature of the place, the freshness of yeast, etc.
• After fermentation, you can rest the batter overnight in the refrigerator. Make sure to let it come to room temperature before you cook your Vibibi.
• The batter should be in a pouring consistency, not too thick or thin. If the batter is too runny, add some rice flour or plain flour to thicken it. If it’s too thick, add a small amount of warm water to thin it out. And then rest it for a while.

Serving Suggestions

Vibibi are traditionally served for breakfast while still warm straight from the pan usually with a hot cup of tea or coffee. You can also serve them drizzled with honey, maple syrup, fruit syrup, jam, chocolate syrup, or melted cheese.

I love to serve them with yogurt, honey, and ground nuts/sesame.

How to Use Yeast?

There are mainly two types of dried yeast available in the market, instant yeast and active dry yeast. The two yeasts can be used interchangeably in recipes. If you use instant yeast, you can just mix it in with flour without activating it. However, make sure to use fresh yeast. You need to activate your active dry yeast dissolving it in warm water/milk before using.

How to Activate the Yeast?

In a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon sugar and 50ml warm milk. Add the yeast and stir lightly. Cover with a towel and leave in a warm place until it begins to froth for about 10 minutes.

Tips for Using Yeast

• If your yeast is stored in the refrigerator or freezer, make sure to allow the yeast to come to room temperature before using.
• Use warm water/milk, hot water/milk kills the yeast while cold water will not activate the yeast.
• Make sure to decrease the amount of liquid you used to dissolve the yeast and then adjust the total amount of liquid.

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Pancakes are one of the oldest, simplest, ubiquitous, and remarkably versatile foods, so every culture has ‘pancakes’ that they are proud of. “Around the World in Pancakes & Buddies” is one of the fantastic food journeys I am bound on. Would you like to join me?

Vibibi (East African Coconut Rice Pancakes) Step-by-Step Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Soaking Time 4 to 6 hours
Resting Time 4 to 6 hours

Special Equipment

A powerful grinder

Ingredients

250g white rice (see the notes)
1 tbsp desiccated coconut (see the notes)
300ml coconut milk, adjust as needed
1 tsp instant yeast or active dry yeast
50g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 egg (optional)
1/4 tsp baking soda
Coconut oil for cooking

NOTES

• Use either white rice (not sticky) like Thai white rice
• Adding desiccated coconut is optional, soak in water before grinding. Sub with freshly grated coconut.
• You can add instant yeast without activating it. Activate your yeast if you use dry active yeast.

Instruction

Clean the rice by rinsing it in a colander under running water. Soak for at least 6 hours or overnight and then drain the water.

Grind the soaked rice adding coconut milk as needed to a smooth paste. Grind soaked desiccated coconut together with rice, if using.

Pour the ground rice batter into a large bowl and add 1 tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir well to combine. Add the instant yeast or activated yeast mixture and mix well. Place it in a warm place for 4 to 6 hours or until the batter gets frothy and increases in volume.

The batter becomes thick and foamy after fermentation.

Now, add the rest of the sugar, cardamom powder, and salt to taste and stir gently. Adjust the consistency of the batter by adding warm water or coconut milk as needed. Stir in the baking soda after dissolving it in a spoonful of warm water. Let the batter rest for about 10 to 20 minutes in a warm place.

If you use eggs in your batter; Add the egg after whisking it in a separate bowl. Stir gently and rest the batter for about 10 minutes.

The batter should be light and bubbly.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium and grease with some oil. Pour a large spoonful of batter into the pan and let it spread into a circle. When the top of the pancake starts forming small holes, cover the pan with a lid. After drying up the top of the pancake, gently flip it to cook the other side.

Once cooked, transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining batter greasing the pan with more oil as necessary.

The pancakes that are made without adding eggs are crispier and taste milky. Eggs makes fluffy and soft pancakes.

Serve with a hot cup of plain tea or milk tea. Enjoy!

Vibibi (East African Coconut Rice Pancakes) Printable Recipe

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More Pancake Recipes to Try

Pancakes are one of the oldest, simplest, ubiquitous, and remarkably versatile foods, so every culture has ‘pancakes’ that they are proud of. “Around the World in Pancakes & Buddies” is one of the fantastic food journeys I am bound on. Would you like to join me?