Ingredients
The berries
- 1 kgmogwana berries
- Grewia, ripe and reddish-brown
- picked clean of leaves and twigs
To eat fresh
- nothing at all
- eaten by the handful
For khadi
- the ripe berries, crushed
- brown sugar
- water
- a clean covered vessel
To serve
- from the hand
- or in a cup
- shared
Directions
- Use scrupulously clean vessels. Cover it rather than sealing it tight. Fermentation gives off gas that must escape.
- Keep it somewhere cool and clean. Never buy an unlabelled brew from a stranger.
- Pick only the fully ripe berries. Ripe ones are reddish brown and soft. Pick carefully to avoid scratches. Take a container rather than pockets.
- Pick out all the leaves and twigs. Discard anything shrivelled or mouldy. Rinse the berries in cold water. Do not soak them or they go soft. Rinse and drain them off quickly.
- Put a whole handful in your mouth. They dry on the bush and sweeten further. Crush the ripe berries in a clean vessel. Crush them rather than pulping them. Add water to cover them all well.
- Add brown sugar to feed the fermentation. Cover the vessel with a cloth. It must keep insects and dust out. Leave it somewhere cool and clean. Discard it if it smells foul or rotten.
- Discard it if there is any mould. Strain out the berries and stones. Serve it out into small clean cups. Fresh berries keep a few days.
Technique
- Only pick wild fruit you can identify with certainty, and learn from someone who knows the plant rather than from a book alone — some wild berries are genuinely toxic. In Botswana this knowledge is passed on from childhood, which is how it is learned properly.
- Adulterated home brews have caused documented poisonings and deaths in the region, where sellers have added industrial substances to strengthen them. The risk is in adulteration rather than in the berries: never buy an unlabelled brew from a stranger, and never add anything but fruit, sugar and water. Khadi is alcoholic and its strength varies enormously between batches, since home fermentation cannot be measured.
- Cover a fermenting vessel with a cloth rather than sealing it: it must keep insects out while letting gas escape, and a sealed container can build pressure and burst. Use scrupulously clean vessels, keep it cool, and discard it if it smells foul or shows any mould.
Substitutions
- Dried berries, which dry naturally on the bush and keep for months, can be soaked to soften again.
- Brewing and distilling law varies by country; anyone making khadi should check their local law.
Variations
- There is little flesh on each berry, so a handful goes in the mouth at once and the flesh is sucked from the stones.
- They fruit after the rains in a fairly short window, and the bushes are picked over quickly.
- Grewia flava is the common species, a low bush of the dry savanna.
History
Grewia berries picked across the Botswana bush after the rains, and the base of the country’s khadi brew.
Frequently asked questions
What is Mogwana?
Mogwana is a snack from Botswana: small sweet wild berries eaten by the handful or brewed into khadi. Grewia berries picked across the Botswana bush after the rains, and the base of the country’s khadi brew.
How long does Mogwana take to make?
Mogwana takes 20 minutes of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Mogwana?
Yes, within limits. Dried berries, which dry naturally on the bush and keep for months, can be soaked to soften again. Brewing and distilling law varies by country; anyone making khadi should check their local law.
What is the most important thing to get right in Mogwana?
Use scrupulously clean vessels. Cover it rather than sealing it tight. Fermentation gives off gas that must escape.
