Kindirmo

Ingredients

Soured milk

• 2 litreswhole milk
• 4 tbsplive kindirmo or plain yoghurt, as starter

To serve

• fura — millet balls, crumbled
• sugar and a pinch of salt
• or millet porridge

Directions

1. Warm the milk to about 30°C (86°F) — blood heat. Fulani practice starts from milk still warm from the animal and heats nothing at all.
2. Stir in the starter until evenly distributed.
3. Pour into a calabash or a jar and cover with a cloth rather than a lid.
4. Leave at warm room temperature for 24 to 36 hours until it has set thick and tastes sharply sour. Kindirmo is set rather than pourable, which is what distinguishes it from thinner soured milks.
5. Do not stir it while it sets. A jolted curd never firms properly.
6. Chill thoroughly. Stir it smooth only when you are ready to serve.
7. Sweeten with sugar and add a pinch of salt at the table — the salt sharpens the sourness rather than making it salty.
8. Serve cold over crumbled fura, or with millet porridge. Keep four spoonfuls back to start the next batch.

Technique

• Cover with cloth. A sealed vessel traps gas and the curd rises and splits.
• Sweeten at the end, never at the start. Sugar before the ferment feeds yeasts and the milk goes fizzy and off.
• A calabash used continuously carries its own culture and eventually needs no starter.

Substitutions

• Buttermilk as a starter.
• Reconstituted powdered milk, which is common across the Sahel and sours perfectly well.

Variations

• Fura da nono mixes it with millet balls into a meal in a bowl.
• The Malian nono and Burkinabè lait caillé are the same preparation.

History

Fulani women ferment milk in calabashes and carry it to market, where it is sold by the ladle.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kindirmo?

Kindirmo is a fermented & pickled from Niger: thick soured Fulani milk, sharp and set, eaten with millet or fura. Fulani women ferment milk in calabashes and carry it to market, where it is sold by the ladle.

How long does Kindirmo take to make?

Kindirmo takes 10 min plus 1 to 2 days souring of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes makes about 1.5 litres. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kindirmo?

Yes, within limits. Buttermilk as a starter. Reconstituted powdered milk, which is common across the Sahel and sours perfectly well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kindirmo?

Pour into a calabash or a jar and cover with a cloth rather than a lid.