Oundé – Mauritian Semolina balls

Oundé, is a Mauritian sweet treat that “screams” Middle Eastern flavors, but with that local “twist”. Healthy and easy to make, these semolina balls can be eaten for breakfast, for dessert or at tea-time.

Oundé is one of my favorite things to eat when wandering the streets of Port-Louis, the capital of Mauritius. You will often find the “marchant gato” aka the cake street vendor selling famous local and delicious cakes. Oundé, Poudine Maïs and Poudine Vermicelle amongst others.

Really easy to make; you only need a few basic ingredients and about half an hour to rock out those yummy semolina balls. The ingredients you will need are; milk, roasted semolina or ground rice flour, sugar and a few spices like cardamom, cinnamon and vanilla essence. Some recipes use ground rice flour while others call for semolina flour. I have tested and tasted both options and they are both delicious. The traditional recipe nonetheless uses semolina, which makes it more authentic and reminds me of my childhood.

Tips & Tricks

• If you want your semolina balls to pack a punch – Infuse your spices in water or milk a few hours in advance to create a magic potion packed full of flavors.
• Ensure to roast your semolina or ground rice flour for that extra nutty flavor
• For a vegan friendly version, simply use non-dairy milk. Almond or coconut milk work really well.
• You can also use half dairy milk – half coconut milk for a more coconut-ty, tropical and exotic flavor profile.

Storage

Store your Oundé in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. You can eat them cold or microwave them a few seconds if you want to have them warm. Serve them with a cup of tea! Ah – Perfect!

Oundé – Mauritian Semolina balls

Course: From The Kitchen, Something SweetDifficulty: Easy

Servings

15

balls

Total time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• 165g (1 cup) semolina flour

• 237ml (1 cup) water

• 473ml (2 cups) milk

• 36g (3 tbsp) brown sugar

• 6-8 cardamon pods

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1½ tsp vanilla essence

• 1½ almond flakes or chopped pistachio

• 100g (1 cup) desiccated coconut

Directions

• In a saucepan, pour in the water and milk. Then add in the sugar along with the spices (cinnamon, cardamon and vanilla)
• Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar and to prevent the milk from burning.
• Then, turn off the heat and let the spices infuse in the milk for about 30mins. At this point, you can also keep the milk mixture overnight in the fridge.
• After infusing, discard the cardamom pods and cinnamon stick. Set milk mixture aside.
• In another saucepan, on medium heat, roast your semolina flour along with your almond flakes/pistachios. Roast until they turn slightly brown, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent burning.
• Once you’ve obtained the desired color on your semolina flour, gradually add in your milk mixture stirring constantly in one direction.
• Keep stirring until the flour absorbs all the liquid and the mixture thickens. Cook on the stove for about 3-4mins or until the flour is cooked through (you can add ½ cup of water if the mixture gets too dry). The mixture needs to come together in a soft and homogenous dough – a roux like texture.
• Once cooked, transfer dough to a bowl to cool down.
• When warm to the touch, form dough into ping pong size ball and coat with desiccated coconut. And Voilà!

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