Dombolo, (also known as umbhako,
ujeqe, dipapata in Setswana and rostile in Xhosa), is a traditional South African
steamed bread
Steamed bread is a kind of bread, typically made from wheat, that is prepared by steaming instead of baking. Steamed bread is produced and consumed all around the world. In Chinese cuisine, ''mantou'' is a staple food of northern China, where up ...
.
It is a popular staple food in many homes within South Africa.
The bread is prepared in a container in a pot of boiling water.
It differs from the traditional
dumpling
Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), oftentimes wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, fi ...
in that it is prepared using yeast instead of baking powder. There are different variations of the dish around South Africa. In the
Zulu culture, dombolo is cooked on top of a stew rather than on its own in a separate pot. That variation of the steamed bread is known amongst the Zulus as uJeqe. Dombolo is often consumed with different kinds of side dishes such as chicken stew, beef stew, oxtail stew, lamb stew, or
tripe
Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle, pigs and sheep.
Types of tripe
Beef tripe
Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's st ...
.
Dombolo can be made using cake flour and placed on top of a stew to soak in the stew's flavours.
See also
*
List of steamed foods
This is a list of steamed foods and dishes that are typically or commonly prepared by the cooking method of steaming.
Steamed foods
* Ada – a food item from Kerala, usually made of rice flour with sweet filling inside.
* Bánh – in Hanoi ...
*
South African cuisine
South African cuisine reflects the diverse range of culinary traditions embodied by the various communities that inhabit the country. Among the indigenous peoples of South Africa, the Khoisan foraged over 300 species of edible food plants, su ...
*
*
References
{{reflist, refs=
[{{cite book , last=Ndoyiya , first=X. , title=Ukutya Kwasekhaya: Tastes from Nelson Mandela's Kitchen , publisher=Real African Publishers , year=2011 , isbn=978-0-9869968-1-8 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sBQiBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA142 , access-date=2021-07-12 , pages=142–143]
[{{cite web , author=Britz, Dirnise , title=Dombolo – Traditional South African steamed bread , website=]The South African
''The South African'' is an English-language South African online news publication created in March 2003 by the multinational media company, Blue Sky Publications, and it operates as an online news and lifestyle publication with offices in South ...
, date=2021-07-02 , url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/food/recipes/dombolo/ , access-date=2021-07-12
South African cuisine
Steamed buns