Mullah roub

Ingredients

The soured milk

• 1 litreroub
• buttermilk from churning
• or thin natural yoghurt
• loosened with water

The okra

• 80 gweika
• dried okra powder, sieved

The meat

• 200 gsharmoot
• dried meat, soaked and shredded
• or 400 g beef, in small pieces

The pot

• 2onions, finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• 1 teaspoonground coriander
• 1 teaspoonchilli powder
• 1stock cube
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• kisra
• or asida
• eaten with the right hand

Directions

1. Stir it constantly in one direction. Constant movement stops curds forming. Keep the heat very low throughout. Thin natural yoghurt is the nearest thing.
2. Rinse the dried meat under cold water. Cover it with warm water in a bowl. Leave it for at least two hours. Dried meat is hard and needs rehydrating. Drain all of the soaked dried meat. Pull it apart into fine shreds. Sieve the okra powder into a bowl. It takes a moment and is worth doing.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy deep pot. Add the finely chopped onions. Cook them for a good eight minutes. Add the crushed garlic to them. Cook it for two more full minutes. Add the coriander and the chilli powder. Fry them for about thirty seconds. Add the shredded meat to the pot. Fry it for about five minutes.
4. Add a splash of water if it sticks. Pour all the roub into the pot. Stir it in almost immediately. Add it while the pot is warm rather than hot. Take the pot off the heat if it is very hot. Cold milk into a hot pot splits at once.
5. Let it warm gradually instead. Return the pot to a very low heat. Stir it constantly as it warms. Do not stop stirring at any point. Stir it in one steady direction. That keeps the proteins moving. Sprinkle the sieved weika in gradually.
6. Keep stirring hard as you add it. Those lumps never break down afterwards. Add it in just a little at a time. Stir it in fully before adding more. Let it cook over a very low heat. Give it about thirty full minutes. Stir it constantly throughout. This dish needs unbroken attention.
7. Add water if it goes too thick. If it splits it is still edible. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Add the stock cube if you want more depth. Add plenty of black pepper as well. Taste before adding any at all. Serving it is always done hot. Ladle it out into a wide bowl. Serve warm kisra alongside it. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• Soured milk splits when heated hard, so the whole technique is heat control: add the roub while the pot is warm rather than hot, keep it on a very low heat that barely steams, and stir constantly in one steady direction throughout the full thirty minutes. Curds form the moment you stop, and a split pot is still edible but cannot be brought back together.
• The okra powder does two jobs at once: it thickens the stew, and its mucilage coats the milk proteins as they heat, which reduces the splitting considerably.
• This is built entirely from things that keep — dried okra powder, dried meat and soured milk, none needing refrigeration — which is why it works through the dry season when fresh food is scarce. That is the point of the dish rather than a compromise.

Substitutions

• Thin natural yoghurt loosened with water to buttermilk thickness stands in for roub and gives a comparable sourness.
• Fresh beef in small pieces replaces sharmoot, the sun-dried meat, which must be soaked and shredded first.

Variations

• Roub is what is left after souring milk and churning off the butter — nothing is wasted in a pastoral household.
• Sprinkle the sieved weika in gradually while stirring hard, since powder tipped in at once lumps and never breaks down.
• Reheat it very gently and stir constantly, since boiling it on reheating splits it.

History

Roub, the buttermilk left from churning, is cooked with weika okra powder; the sour stew is a dry-season dish of central and western Sudan.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mullah roub?

Mullah roub is a soup & stew from Sudan: soured milk stewed with dried okra powder and dried meat. Roub, the buttermilk left from churning, is cooked with weika okra powder; the sour stew is a dry-season dish of central and western Sudan.

How long does Mullah roub take to make?

Mullah roub takes 20 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mullah roub?

Yes, within limits. Thin natural yoghurt loosened with water to buttermilk thickness stands in for roub and gives a comparable sourness. Fresh beef in small pieces replaces sharmoot, the sun-dried meat, which must be soaked and shredded first.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mullah roub?

Add a splash of water if it sticks. Pour all the roub into the pot. Stir it in almost immediately. Add it while the pot is warm rather than hot. Take the pot off the heat if it is very hot. Cold milk into a hot pot splits at once.