Ingredients
Grain
- 500 gmahangu flour, pearl millet
- 150 gsorghum malt flour, oshikundu yomangungu
Liquid
- 4 litreswater
Starter
- 500 mlof a previous batch, if you have it
Optional
- sugar, to taste
Directions
- Boil about half the water and slake the mahangu flour in cold water first. Slake it cold.
- Stir the slaked millet into the boiling water and cook it, stirring, for 15 to 20 minutes into a thin porridge. Cook the millet thoroughly.
- Add the rest of the water, cold, to thin it and to bring the temperature down. Hot porridge kills the culture and the whole thing spoils instead of souring. Stir in the sorghum malt flour, which is the traditional inoculant.
- Add a cup of a previous batch if you have one, which makes the ferment faster and far more predictable. Keeping back a little from each batch to start the next is how it is done in a household, and it is why the flavour is consistent from day to day.
- Cover the container with a cloth and stand it somewhere warm for 8 to 12 hours.
- Taste from about 6 hours. It should be pleasantly tart with a faint sweetness behind it, thin enough to drink easily. Strain it if you want it smooth, or drink it as it is with the grain in.
- Chill it and shake or stir before pouring, because the millet settles solidly within minutes. Mahangu, pearl millet, is the staple grain of northern Namibia because it grows where almost nothing else will.
Technique
- It keeps two or three days refrigerated and keeps souring slowly.
- Offering it to a visitor is a matter of courtesy in Oshiwambo households rather than hospitality on request.
- Sorghum malt flour is sold for brewing and is the key ingredient.
Substitutions
- Sorghum or maize meal in place of some of the mahangu.
- A few spoonfuls of a previous batch as a starter.
Variations
- Made thicker, closer to a gruel.
- Left longer for a sharper drink.
- Sweetened with sugar, which younger drinkers prefer.
History
A lightly fermented mahangu and sorghum drink brewed daily in Oshiwambo households and offered to any visitor who arrives.
Frequently asked questions
What is Oshikundu?
Oshikundu is a drink from Namibia: lightly fermented mahangu and sorghum drink, tangy and refreshing. A lightly fermented mahangu and sorghum drink brewed daily in Oshiwambo households and offered to any visitor who arrives.
How long does Oshikundu take to make?
Oshikundu takes 20 min plus 12 hr fermenting of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 4 litres. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Oshikundu?
Yes, within limits. Sorghum or maize meal in place of some of the mahangu. A few spoonfuls of a previous batch as a starter.
What is the most important thing to get right in Oshikundu?
Add the rest of the water, cold, to thin it and to bring the temperature down. Hot porridge kills the culture and the whole thing spoils instead of souring. Stir in the sorghum malt flour, which is the traditional inoculant.
