🍢 SNACK
Mkatra Siniya (Comorian Rice and Coconut Cake)
Soaked rice blended with coconut milk, left overnight, then sweetened, scented with cardamom and vanilla and baked in a tray into a soft, springy white cake cut into diamonds for tea time.
Comorian · medium · serves 12
prep 30 min · cook 60 min · plus 3.5 days hands-off time
~371 cal · 4g protein · 55g carbs · 16g fat · 2g fiber · 21g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Mkatra siniya is one of the basic cakes of the Comoro Islands, a white, springy cake of rice and coconut that turns up at almost every celebration: weddings, birthdays, baptisms and national holidays. Its name describes it: mkatra is a cake or bread, and siniya is the round metal tray it is baked in.
It is made with very few ingredients and a lot of patience. The rice is soaked for days, with the water changed every evening, until it is soft enough to grind. It is then blended with into a smooth batter and left overnight, which gives the cake its light, slightly tangy crumb. The next day it is sweetened, perfumed with crushed and vanilla, and baked until golden on top.
Once cool it is cut into squares or diamonds and eaten as a kitafunio, the Swahili word for the little something served with tea. Comorians eat it with spiced milk tea, ginger tea or coffee, in the afternoon or whenever visitors call.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, 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 12
- 500 g (about 2 1/2 cups) long-grain white rice (not basmati)
- 750 ml (3 cups) , fresh, or one 400 ml can topped up with water
- 225 g (about 1 cup plus 2 tbsp) sugar
- 1/2 tsp seeds, crushed
- 1 vanilla pod, split and scraped, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp samli (), for the tin
Instructions
- 1Rinse the rice, cover it with plenty of water and leave it to soak for 3 days, pouring off the water and adding fresh every evening. On the fourth day drain it well for 30 minutes.✎ Chef’s noteThe long soak softens the grains so they grind fine, and gives the cake its gentle tang. If you are short of time, a soak of 12 hours works, but the cake is denser.
- 2Blend the rice with the coconut milk in batches, about two parts rice to one part coconut milk each time, until the batter is completely smooth with no grit left when you rub a drop between your fingers.
- 3Pour the batter into a large bowl, stir in the baking soda, cover and leave it at room temperature overnight.
- 4The next day, heat the oven to 180C (350F) and grease a round 28 cm cake tin or tray with the samli. Stir the sugar, cardamom, vanilla and baking powder into the batter and leave it to rest for 1 hour.
- 5Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is golden and a knife pushed into the centre comes out clean. If the top browns before the middle is cooked, cover it loosely with foil.
- 6Let it cool completely in the tin, then cut into squares or diamonds and serve with tea or coffee.
Comorian festive and tea-time tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
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Moroni. Cooks disagree about the method: some simmer the lobster in the sauce, others split it, work the seeds in and roast it. What is not argued over is the rest of the table, coconut rice, cassava, breadfruit and reef fish over charcoal, with cloves and ylang-ylang growing on the same volcanic slopes.
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Comoros. The Comoros, the 'perfume islands,' cook with the vanilla, clove, and ylang-ylang they're famous for, grilled fish, coconut rice, and Swahili-spiced stews. French, Arab, and African roots define the archipelago's plate.
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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 Comoros
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Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Blender, Mould or tin.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Mkatra Siniya (Comorian Rice and Coconut Cake)?
Soaked rice blended with coconut milk, left overnight, then sweetened, scented with cardamom and vanilla and baked in a tray into a soft, springy white cake cut into diamonds for tea time.
Where does Mkatra Siniya (Comorian Rice and Coconut Cake) come from?
Mkatra Siniya (Comorian Rice and Coconut Cake) is a Comorian dish from Moroni, Comoros.
Can Mkatra Siniya (Comorian Rice and Coconut Cake) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Mkatra Siniya (Comorian Rice and Coconut Cake) 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 Mkatra Siniya (Comorian Rice and Coconut Cake) 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 Mkatra Siniya (Comorian Rice and Coconut Cake) take to make?
About 3.5 days in all: 30 minutes prep and 60 minutes cooking, plus 3.5 days of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 12.
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