A Mama ntilie street vendor's Kitumbua pan in Tanzania. Image source
It isn't easy to find a good pan once your away from East Africa. Most of the people I know brought their pans with them from back home. While in Tanzania you would have bought your pan at the local market. When you shop for a pan there are 3 factors you take into consideration; the Pan's size, number of holes and casting. If you are a food vendor or own a commercial restaurant a pan with greater than 7 holes would be ideal. Of all the qualities an iron cast pan is highly sought because they hold in the heat well and create uniformly cooked vitumbua. I use a small appam pan given to me by my mum but can be bought from Indian speciality shops or you can always ask an Indian own grocery shop attendant,they can direct you where to find one. Another option is to try out the Danish aebleskiver pans, which also does a wonderful job and comes in different sizes. In comparison the Norpro brand pan makes smaller vitumbua while the Lodge brand makes the ideal sized kitumbua. You can find them online at amazon.com.
Hope I have answered a mystery reader's query. And if you've missed my vitumbua recipe post, you can get it here.
Nakutakieni siku njema!- Wish you all a great day!!
Posts
There is still another optioin to the forementioned pans. You can find them on: www.aebleskiver.com. They have the largest selection of pans on the internet and are coming out with new pans and models all the time. Right now they will be launching a new electric heated pan as a table model. It looks very intriguing. Take a look.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information. Will certainly look at the website.
ReplyDeleteim having trouble making them.. i have an iron pan passed down from my gran but my vitumbua dont rise in the pan n it burns n sticks to the bottom n if i try to take it out it falls apart bcz its still raw liquid at the top...plz help if possible
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI can only think of two possible explanations,
1. You have a sticky pan. So before you use the pan, grease it with oil or ghee give it a good rub. Then use a paper towel to wipe it down.Then start putting your mixture in.
2.Your frying at high heat. Would advice after the pan gets heated to reduce the temperature to medium so that the vitumbua cook evenly.
I hope you will have wonderful vitumbuas.