Ingredients
Millet
- 400 gcracked millet, or coarse millet couscous
- water
- a pinch of salt
Milk
- 1 litresoured milk, or thick natural yoghurt thinned with milk
To sweeten
- sugar to taste
- a pinch of salt
Sometimes
- a little vanilla
- grated nutmeg
- raisins or dates
To serve
- at breakfast, or at suhoor during Ramadan
Directions
- Soak the cracked millet for at least an hour, and longer for a coarse crack. Rinse the soaked millet and drain it.
- Simmer the millet in water with a pinch of salt for thirty to forty minutes. Add water as it is absorbed, since millet takes up a great deal.
- Stir occasionally and scrape the base, since it settles and catches. Now judging when the millet is done.
- Let the cooked millet cool completely before the soured milk goes on. This matters: hot millet would curdle the soured milk into a grainy separated mess.
- Spread it out to cool faster and fluff it as it cools. That gives a thick, tangy, slightly effervescent milk quite unlike fresh milk.
- Put the cooled millet in a bowl and pour the sweetened soured milk over it. Do not stir it in fully, since the contrast between the two is the character of the dish.
- Serve it cool rather than cold or hot. It keeps a day refrigerated, and the millet absorbs the milk and thickens.
Technique
- The millet must be completely cooled before the soured milk goes on.
- Soured milk, kossam, is central to Fulani and Halpulaar food.
- It is eaten at suhoor because grain and milk sustain a long fasting day.
Substitutions
- Thick yoghurt thinned with milk, in place of naturally soured milk.
- Millet couscous in place of cracked millet.
Variations
- With baobab powder stirred into the milk.
- With dates or raisins added.
- Made with sorghum instead of millet.
History
A Halpulaar and Soninke dish of the Senegal River valley, eaten at breakfast and at Ramadan suhoor, and shared with northern Senegal.
Frequently asked questions
What is Fonde?
Fonde is a breakfast from Mauritania: cracked millet cooked soft and served under sweetened soured milk. A Halpulaar and Soninke dish of the Senegal River valley, eaten at breakfast and at Ramadan suhoor, and shared with northern Senegal.
How long does Fonde take to make?
Fonde takes 15 min plus soaking of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Fonde?
Yes, within limits. Thick yoghurt thinned with milk, in place of naturally soured milk. Millet couscous in place of cracked millet.
What is the most important thing to get right in Fonde?
Put the cooled millet in a bowl and pour the sweetened soured milk over it. Do not stir it in fully, since the contrast between the two is the character of the dish.
