Urwagwa

Ingredients

Bananas

• 8 kgEast African highland cooking bananas (igitoke or imineke), very green when picked
• Fresh banana leaves, to line the ripening pit

Juice extraction

• 2large handfuls dried spear grass (urutete) or clean fresh straw, washed
• 3 litresclean water, at blood heat

Ferment

• 400 gsorghum grain, or 400 g sorghum flour
• 1clean gourd (icyansi) or a food-grade 10 litre bucket with a loose lid

Directions

1. Peel the ripened bananas, discarding any that have gone black and slimy. The flesh should be amber and give like jam under a thumb.
2. Work the flesh in a wooden trough (umuvure) with a big handful of the dry grass, squeezing and twisting for 20–25 minutes.
3. Strain the juice through the grass or a coarse cloth into the gourd, pressing hard, then thin it with the warm water to taste; 3 litres of water to 5 litres of juice is normal.
4. Stir in the roasted sorghum flour, cover loosely with a banana leaf so gas escapes, and leave in a warm dark place at 25–30°C (75–85°F). Fermentation starts within 12 hours: expect a thick foam, a strong yeasty smell and audible fizzing.
5. Stir once a day with a clean stick. It is ready after 2 to 4 days, when the foam falls, the taste turns dry and slightly sour and the strength sits around 5–8 percent.
6. Strain again and drink within 2 days, cloudy, at cellar temperature, poured from the gourd into shared cups or drunk through long reed straws at a ceremony.

Technique

• Urwagwa is not shelf stable. It has no hops, no boiling step and no filtration, so it keeps souring; by day four it turns sharply vinegary. Refrigeration slows this but changes the character.
• The ferment relies on wild yeast from the sorghum, the gourd and the fruit. Scrupulously clean equipment paradoxically makes it slower; a gourd used before for urwagwa works fastest.
• The drink is ceremonially important at gusaba (dowry) and reconciliation gatherings, where it is offered from a shared vessel. Serving it flat or sweet is considered a poor showing.
• Home food safety: use sound fruit only, never a sealed rigid container (fermentation pressure can burst it), and discard any batch that smells of solvent, mould or nail polish.

Substitutions

• No highland cooking banana? Use very ripe plantains, skins fully black, plus 500 g of ripe sweet bananas for aroma; expect a rounder, less tangy drink.
• No sorghum? Roasted millet flour is the accepted stand-in and is used in parts of Uganda; 1 tsp of dried brewers yeast will guarantee the ferment starts but flattens the rustic flavour.

Variations

• Ikigage, the Rwandan sorghum beer proper, made from sprouted sorghum with no banana at all.
• Distilled urwagwa is boiled off into kanyanga, a strong clear spirit that is illegal to produce in Rwanda.

History

Banana juice fermented with roasted sorghum flour; it was central to Rwandan ritual life, offered at dowry talks, naming ceremonies and funerals.

Frequently asked questions

What is Urwagwa?

Urwagwa is a wine & spirit from Rwanda: traditional banana beer fermented with roasted sorghum. Banana juice fermented with roasted sorghum flour; it was central to Rwandan ritual life, offered at dowry talks, naming ceremonies and funerals.

How long does Urwagwa take to make?

Urwagwa takes 45 min of preparation and 5 to 8 days of cooking. The recipe makes about 4 litres. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Urwagwa?

Yes, within limits. No highland cooking banana? Use very ripe plantains, skins fully black, plus 500 g of ripe sweet bananas for aroma; expect a rounder, less tangy drink. No sorghum? Roasted millet flour is the accepted stand-in and is used in parts of Uganda; 1 tsp of dried brewers yeast will guarantee the ferment starts but flattens the rustic flavour.

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

Home food safety: use sound fruit only, never a sealed rigid container (fermentation pressure can burst it), and discard any batch that smells of solvent, mould or nail polish.