KIU, Western Campus câ¬â?? When my Somali friend Mohammed Absame invited me to visit him last weekend, I was in no way aware of the pleasant surprise that awaited me.

After sharing the customary greeting (in English, of course), he served a brunch of black, heavily-spiced tea in small cups and a snack that looked like a chapatti except that this one was very soft.

One bite of the snack, which he told me is called Malawah, sent my taste buds reeling from the pleasant knockout blow they were dealt.

I decided to look up the recipe later and even though my attempts at replicating the Somali sweet pancake were way off the mark, I decided to share it with you in this weekcâ¬â?cs cuisine guide so that you can try your luck.

If you get it right, you woncâ¬â?ct be disappointed.

According to The Somali Kitchen, a culinary website, Malawah is a plate-sized sweet pancake that is perfect for breakfast or as a snack anytime during the day and can also be served as dessert.

The following recipe takes 30 minutes to prepare and cook and it serves more than 10 people, according to the website.

Ingredients

2 eggs

½ cup of sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cardamom powder or ginger powder

3 cups of self-raising flour

3 ¼ cups of milk

Oil for cooking (ghee gives this malawah wonderful flavour)

Instructions

1.Whisk or blend the eggs, sugar, milk, salt and cardamom/ginger powder until frothy

2. Add the flour slowly and mix until you get a smooth batter

3. Place a non-stick frying pan on medium heat

4. Pour about quarter a cup of the batter at the centre of the pan. Use a spoon to quickly spread the batter around the pan in a circular motion.

5. Drizzle a little bit of oil on top of the pancake, and once brown flip and cook on the other side.

6. Remove from the pan and place on a plate.

7. Keep cooking the rest of the batter until finished.

Serve while warm and you will thank me later.

Picture credit: The Somali Kitchen