Africa → Central African Republic → Bangui
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Gozo (Central African Cassava Flour Dough)
Cassava flour worked into boiling water until it turns into a smooth, sticky, slightly translucent dough, rolled into balls and dipped into ngunza, koko or any Central African sauce.
Central African · medium · serves 4
prep 5 min · cook 12 min
~359 cal · 1g protein · 87g carbs · 1g fat · 5g fiber · 0g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Gozo is the everyday staple of the Central African Republic: a dense, dough-like ball of that sits beside almost every meal, with the sauce doing all the talking. is the country's basic food, eaten as gozo or as chikwangue, the loaf, and in some areas a similar dough is made from .
The flour behind it is made the slow way. roots are soaked in water, which softens them and draws out their natural toxins, then dried in the sun and ground. At the stove the job is quick: the flour is worked into boiling water with a stout wooden spoon until it pulls together into a glossy, elastic dough that no longer sticks to your fingers.
Gozo is eaten with the right hand. A piece is pinched off, rolled into a small ball and dipped into ngunza, leaves cooked with peanut paste and , or into koko greens, sauce or a fish stew. It belongs to the wide family of swallows eaten across Central Africa, from in Cameroon to funge in Angola, and in Bangui it is simply what a meal is served with.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 400 g (about 2 3/4 cups) flour ( or foufou flour), made from soaked and dried cassava; not tapioca starch
- 400 ml (1 2/3 cups) cold water
- 500 ml (2 cups) water, for boiling, plus a little extra, kept hot
- 1 pinch salt, optional; many cooks add none
Instructions
- 1Put the cassava flour in a bowl and stir in the cold water to make a smooth, thick, lump-free paste.✎ Chef’s noteWetting the flour first with cold water is what stops lumps forming when it meets the boiling water.
- 2Bring the second measure of water to the boil in a heavy pot with the salt, if using, and keep a little extra water hot in a kettle.
- 3Turn the heat to medium-low and pour the paste into the boiling water, stirring hard with a sturdy wooden spoon.
- 4Keep stirring, folding and pressing the dough against the side of the pot for 5 to 8 minutes, until it is smooth, sticky and slightly translucent and comes away from the pot in one mass. If it is too stiff, work in a splash of the hot water.✎ Chef’s noteThe dough is ready when a wet fingertip pressed into it comes away clean.
- 5Wet your hands or a small bowl, shape the gozo into smooth balls and serve at once with a sauce, pinching off pieces to scoop it up.
Central African home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bangui. Cassava is used at every stage. The root is dried and milled into flour for fufu, fermented and steamed into chikwangue wrapped in leaves, and the leaves are pounded and cooked separately again. The Oubangui river supplies smoked fish, and the pepper is added by whoever is eating.
🗺️
Central African Republic. Gozo is the cassava dough and chikwangue the fermented cassava loaf wrapped and steamed in leaves, and the two are not interchangeable. Both come from the same root that also gives the pounded leaves, so a single crop supplies the starch, the greens and the keeping food in a country where refrigeration cannot be assumed.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Central African Republic
Kanda ti NymaCentral African meatballs simmered in a nutty tomato-and-okra sauce thickened with ground pumpkin seeds.
BeignetsCentral African breakfast doughnuts: puffy, golden yeasted fritters fried fresh at dawn and dusted with sugar, eaten with sweet coffee.
Gozo with Groundnut SauceSmooth cassava fufu served with a rich, savory peanut sauce, an everyday plate across the Central African Republic.
Browse all Central African Republic recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Central African Republic meal
Jus de TamarinDrink
Beignets de Banane (Banana Fritters)Dessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Funge (Angolan Cassava Flour Porridge)Angola
Lituma (Congolese Mashed Plantain)DR Congo
Foutou Banane (Ivorian Pounded Plantain and Cassava)Côte d’Ivoire
Foofoo (Sierra Leonean Fermented Cassava)Sierra Leone
Pounded Yam (Iyan)Nigeria
Poi (Pounded Taro)Solomon Islands
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Gozo (Central African Cassava Flour Dough)?
Cassava flour worked into boiling water until it turns into a smooth, sticky, slightly translucent dough, rolled into balls and dipped into ngunza, koko or any Central African sauce.
Where does Gozo (Central African Cassava Flour Dough) come from?
Gozo (Central African Cassava Flour Dough) is a Central African dish from Bangui, Central African Republic.
Can Gozo (Central African Cassava Flour Dough) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Gozo (Central African Cassava Flour Dough) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Gozo (Central African Cassava Flour Dough) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Gozo (Central African Cassava Flour Dough) take to make?
About 17 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 12 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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