Mabhanzi/Zimbabwean Sweet Buns ~~~Zimbabwean Cuisine

Zimbabwe, i picked this country immediately when i was searching for recipes to cook for this month's long marathon for the alphabetical letter 'Z',as the theme for this mega marathon is Around the World in 30days starting with alphabets.The original name of the country was Rhodesia until the late 1970s when the country gained full independence and changed the name to the Republic of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe means “House of Stone,” which is an illustrious nod to the eight century old stone structures left behind by the Shona ancestors. Today, nearly eighty percent are descendents of Shona people, almost twenty percent are Ndebele, while the remaining population is comprised of descendents of colonizers, immigrants, and emigrants.The cornmeal-based dietary staple of Zimbabwe is also the national dish, called sadza. Sadza to the Zimbabweans is like rice to the Chinese, or pasta to Italians. In fact, sadza re masikati , or "sadza of the afternoon" simply means lunch. Sadza re manheru, or "sadza of the evening" means dinner. Sadza is made from cornmeal or maize, and eaten with relish. Relish can be any kind of vegetable stew, but nyama, (meat), such as beef or chicken, is common among families who can afford it. Sadza is cooked slowly until thick, like porridge.Other traditional foods are peanuts, beans, butternut squash, gem squash, green maize (or corn on the cob), and cucumbers. Avocados are plentiful and cheap. Bowara or pumpkin leaves, can be eaten fresh and are commonly mixed into stews, like dovi (peanut butter stew).

During the summer, open-air markets sell dried mopane worms (spiny caterpillars) and flying ants by the pound. Both can be eaten fried and are said to taste chewy and salty. Flying ants fly in dense clouds around any source of light during the summer, and can be eaten live. The wings are torn off, then the bodies are eaten. The taste is considered slightly buttery.

I googled many times to get an interesting Zimbabwean dish and i finished by finding out, yes this Mabhanzi aka Zimbabwean sweet buns are prepared at home by the Zimbabwean women. The word mabhanzi is the more common local name among Zimbabweans which simply means buns. These buns are sold in local bakeries eventhough you can prepare this sugar syrup glazed buns at home easily with simple ingredients. The simplicity of these Mabhanzi pulled me to try them immediately and these buns came out simply prefect with beautiful crust and a spongy crumb. An incredible bun can be enjoyed with a cup of tea for snacks.They tastes absolutely fabulous and dangerously addictive.Sending to Bake Fest guest hosted by Nalini.

Recipe Source: Zimbo Kitchen

750grms Plain flour
150grms Sugar
125grms Butter
125ml Fresh milk
250ml Warm water
2tsp  Instant yeast
2tsp Salt
Oil for greasing
3tbsp sugar for the glaze
15 ml water for the glaze

Put flour, sugar and salt in bowl and mix,make a well in the middle and set-aside.

Melt butter, add milk  and warm up the mixture. Add yeast to this luke warm milk mixture.

Stir the milk, butter and yeast mixture until the yeast dissolves.

Take the bowl with dry ingredients, pour the milk and yeast mixture then the water.

Pour the water slowly at a time to avoid a runny dough, knead the dough well in a floured surface until its turns smooth.

Lightly oil a separate bowl which is large enough to contain your dough when it rises. Transfer the dough and place it in the oiled bowl.

Cover with a wet cloth and put in warm place for an hour or until it has doubled in size.

Remove dough from bowl and return it to your lightly floured surface and knead it one more time for another 15 minutes

Divide into small portions of the dough at a time and shape them into a circle and put them on your greased baking pan.

 Boil 1.5 litres of water and put in a container.

Take your baking pan and place it on top of the container with boiled water. Take the wet cloth again and cover the buns. Leave in warm place for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes your buns have doubled in size. Remove the cloth and give them time to stand again for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

After 30 minutes put your buns in the oven and bake for 25 minutes to 30 minutes at 350F.

Prepare the glaze by dissolving the sugar into the water and heat it up for 40 seconds using the microwave oven.

Once the Mabhanzi is baked,remove them from the oven and glaze them with the sugar syrup.

Enjoy with cup of tea.

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