🍢 SNACK
Chigumu (Malawian Banana and Maize Cake)
Very ripe bananas mashed into whole maize flour with a little sugar, salt and soda, then baked into a dense, moist, gently sweet cake with a crusty base, eaten with tea.
Malawian · easy · serves 8
prep 15 min · cook 40 min
~237 cal · 4g protein · 47g carbs · 4g fat · 3g fiber · 12g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Chigumu is Malawi's banana cake, made from two things every Malawian kitchen has: ripe bananas and maize flour. It is eaten for breakfast or as a snack with tea, and in a country where sweet treats are rare it is a real occasion.
What makes it Malawian is mgaiwa, whole-grain maize flour ground with the bran and germ still in, which gives the cake its slightly grainy texture. The bananas are mashed smooth, mixed with the flour, a little sugar, salt and warm water, and lifted with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Some cooks add eggs and milk for a richer cake, but the everyday village version has neither.
In the village there is no oven: the batter goes into a well-oiled pot, set over coals with more hot coals on the lid, and comes out dense and moist with a crisp, almost fried bottom. At home an ordinary oven and a greased tin do the same job.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
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 8
- 5 medium very ripe bananas, peeled
- 2 cups (280 g) whole-grain maize flour (mgaiwa)Hard to find? fine yellow cornmeal - Made without the bran and germ, so the cake is paler and smoother.
- 2 tbsp sugar, more if your bananas are not very sweet
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup warm water, as needed
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, for the tin
Instructions
- 1Heat the oven to 180C (350F). Oil a 20 to 23 cm (8 to 9 inch) square tin generously, bottom and sides.
- 2Mash or blend the bananas to a very smooth paste. Stir in the maize flour, sugar and salt.
- 3Add the warm water a little at a time until you have a thick batter that just drops from the spoon, neither runny nor stiff. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda last.
- 4Pour the batter into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden, firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean.✎ Chef’s noteFor the village crust, bake it in a well-oiled heavy pot with a lid instead: the oil fries the bottom as it bakes.
- 5Let the cake cool completely in the tin before cutting, as it firms up as it cools. Serve in squares with tea.
Malawian home tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Lilongwe. The relish that goes with nsima is called ndiwo and it can be almost anything: pumpkin leaves cooked with groundnut flour, beans, or dried usipa from the lake. Chambo, the prized tilapia, is under real pressure from overfishing and is no longer the everyday fish it once was.
🗺️
Malawi. Ndiwo is the word for the relish, and it does the work of making nsima into a meal: pumpkin leaves or cassava leaves pounded and cooked with groundnut flour, or beans, or fish. Nsima is turned with a wooden spoon until it is stiff enough to hold a thumbprint, and a piece is used to scoop.
🌍
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 Malawi
Grilled Chambo with NsimaLake Malawi's prized chambo fish, grilled whole, with nsima and a tomato-onion relish.
ZitumbuwaMalawian banana fritters: very ripe bananas bound with a little cornmeal and deep-fried into sweet, golden, craggy morsels.
MkhwaniTender pumpkin leaves simmered with groundnut flour into a creamy green relish, eaten with nsima across Malawi.
Browse all Malawi recipes →
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.
Make it a Malawi meal
ThobwaDrink
Mbatata CookiesDessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Mkatra Siniya (Comorian Rice and Coconut Cake)Comoros
Soparnik (Dalmatian Swiss Chard Pie)Croatia
Sambusak b'Tawa (Iraqi Chickpea Turnovers)Iraq
Fatayer bi Sabanekh (Lebanese Spinach Pies)Lebanon
Orelletes (Andorran Fried Sugar Pastries)Andorra
Gata (Armenian Sweet Pastry with Khoriz)Armenia
Cuisine
Diet
Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World
Vegan Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Vegetarian Malawian Recipes
Gluten-Free Malawian Recipes
Dairy-Free Malawian Recipes
Frequently asked questions
What is Chigumu (Malawian Banana and Maize Cake)?
Very ripe bananas mashed into whole maize flour with a little sugar, salt and soda, then baked into a dense, moist, gently sweet cake with a crusty base, eaten with tea.
Where does Chigumu (Malawian Banana and Maize Cake) come from?
Chigumu (Malawian Banana and Maize Cake) is a Malawian dish from Lilongwe, Malawi.
Can Chigumu (Malawian Banana and Maize Cake) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Chigumu (Malawian Banana and Maize 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 Chigumu (Malawian Banana and Maize 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 Chigumu (Malawian Banana and Maize Cake) take to make?
About 55 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 8.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.