Mahamris are a delicacy that originated from the Kenyan coastal community. These fluffy golden brown beauties are typically triangular in shape. Their authentic ingredients are heavy coconut milk and cardamom. This distinct combination of flavours is what sets mahamris apart from the competition.
Mahamris are typically accompanied by Kenyan chai or mbaazi (pigeon peas) cooked in coconut milk. They can also be eaten on their own, they are super soft. They also make a very good addition to a picnic hamper.
In my recipe I have used freshly ground cardamom seeds for a more intense flavour. However, this is not to say that if you do not have ready made cardamom powder your mahamris won’t be successful. My heavy coconut milk is homemade and at room temperature. This recipe yields 20 mahamris.
Tips For a Successful Mahamri Recipe:
- Knead your dough for minimum of five minutes to develop the gluten.
- The dough has to be left to rise to almost twice its size.
- Do not roll the mahamri dough too thin or too thick, a 1/2″ thickness is good enough.
- Cook the mahamris on medium heat.
Ingredients
- 400g All purpose flour
- 100g Sugar
- 1tsp Cardamom powder
- 1/2tsp ghee
- 200ml heavy coconut milk (or as much as is required)
- 1 and 1/2 Tbs instant yeast
Directions
- Take out enough cardamom seeds from the pods to yield one teaspoon after being ground in a spice grinder, or pestle and mortar, and add to the all purpose flour followed by the sugar and yeast.
- Rub in the ghee.
- Add the heavy coconut milk gradually as you start kneading the dough until it all comes together. Turn over onto your work surface and knead for minimum five minutes.
- Roll into a log like shape and divide into five equal balls.
- Dust these balls with some flour and cover with a plastic bag for about 45 minutes or until risen to almost twice their size.
- Roll the balls into 6″ circles (1/2″ thickness) and divide them into four pieces.
- Pre-heat your oil on medium heat and then cook your mahamris for about a minute on each side.
- Serve with tea or mbaazi in coconut milk.
Hi Jikoni magic, I’ve been watching your video for some time now. Quite helpful I must say. I do video production, would like to help you improve the quality of videos and take them to the next level now that you have a bunch of subscribers. Let me know what you think. Thanks
Hi Norman, thank you for your interest in helping me with my videos. I will keep this in mind for future reference once I decide to upgrade and do more intricate shots and photography. Do you have an online portfolio of your work for me to review?
Hi Jikoni Magic! I’ve only recently discovered your YouTube channel and I love it! I’ve been stateside for almost 20 years now and I miss our cooking so much. Thank you so much for your clear and concise instructions. I’ve been dazzling my American friends with so many of your recipes! I always have a problem converting the measurements though. I just tried Mahamris this morning, and my dough is so hard – I’m pretty sure my Mahamris will flop. Lol. And this is not the first time! Could you perhaps include measurements in cups for flour and sugar? Thank you so much!
Hi, thank you for your suggestion about the measuring cups and spoons. I have already started doing it, but, it’s with the recent recipes that I am yet to post. In Kenya things are mostly measured centimeters and meters and weighed in kilograms and grams and I find myself doing it subconsciously. 20 years is a long time to be away from home. Glad to have helped you dazzle your friends! 😉😉