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Bushera
Soured sorghum drink
Obushera: Kigezi's lightly soured sorghum drink, non-alcoholic
In the hills of Kigezi around Kabale, a calabash of obushera is offered to visitors and carried to the fields in the afternoon; the same drink, left for days, becomes beer, but the everyday family version is drunk young and contains no meaningful alcohol. Sorghum flour is cooked into a thin porridge, cooled, then left overnight with a spoonful of sprouted sorghum flour to sour gently, so it tastes tangy, malty and refreshing, a little like a drinking yoghurt made from grain. Drink it chilled on its own or with roasted groundnuts. The mistake people make is leaving it out too long: after a day it starts to fizz and turn alcoholic, so taste it, then chill it. Chef's tip: sweeten only just before serving, as sugar added early speeds up the ferment.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 5 ½ oz gluten-free sorghum flouror finger millet flour
- 6 ¼ cups water
- 2 tbsp gluten-free sprouted sorghum flourmalted sorghum, from African grocers; or 2 tbsp cooled obushera from a previous batch
- 4 tbsp sugarto taste; honey also works, but then the drink is no longer vegan
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What you'll need
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Whisk 5 ½ oz gluten-free sorghum flour into 300 ml of 1 ¼ cups water in a bowl until completely smooth.
Step 2: Bring the rest of 5 cups water to the boil in a large, clean pot over a high heat.
Step 3: Pour the flour paste into the boiling water in a thin stream, whisking all the time so no lumps form.
Step 4: Turn the heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until it is a thin, smooth porridge that coats a spoon lightly and no longer tastes of raw flour.
15 minStep 5: Take it off the heat and leave it to cool until just lukewarm, about body temperature.
40 minStep 6: Stir in 2 tbsp gluten-free sprouted sorghum flour, cover with a clean cloth and leave at room temperature for 12–24 hours, until it smells pleasantly sour and tastes tangy but not fizzy or boozy. Check it after 12 hours.
Step 7: Stir well, strain through a fine sieve if you like it smooth, and refrigerate straight away; it keeps for 2–3 days in the fridge. Discard it if it smells off, grows mould or turns fizzy.
Step 8: Just before serving, stir in 4 tbsp sugar to taste and pour into glasses over ice or straight from the fridge.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 120 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 27 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bushera take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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