Ingredients
Juice
- 1 kgditakh fruit
- 1.5 litreswater
- 200 gsugar
- juice of 1 lime
- a pinch of salt
Directions
- Choose fruit that gives slightly under thumb pressure. Rock-hard green ditakh is underripe, and the pulp will be scant and astringent.
- Crack the hard shells with the back of a knife or a stone and prise them open.
- Scrape the pulp away from the shell and from the large flat seed and put it into a bowl.
- Take care to remove every fragment of shell. It is woody, it does not soften, and a splinter in the glass is genuinely unpleasant.
- Pour over a litre of warm water and leave the pulp to soak for 30 minutes.
- Work the pulp with your hands, squeezing it through your fingers to release it from the fibres.
- Strain through a fine sieve, pressing hard, then rinse the fibres with the remaining water and strain again to get the last of the pulp out.
- Sweeten with sugar to taste and add the lime juice and the pinch of salt.
- The salt is not really for flavour but for balance. A pinch sharpens the sweet-sour of the fruit considerably and its absence is noticeable.
- Chill thoroughly and serve very cold, stirring the jug before each pour because it separates as it stands.
Technique
- Detarium senegalense grows wild in the bush, and the hard green fruit is sold in piles at Dakar markets.
- The pulp is scant relative to the weight of fruit, so do not be alarmed by how little each shell yields.
- It keeps two or three days refrigerated and separates every time, which is normal.
Substitutions
- Tamarind pulp, which gives a different but comparably sweet-sour juice.
- Frozen ditakh pulp, sold in African grocers, which skips the cracking entirely.
Variations
- With a little ginger juice for heat.
- Blended with milk for a richer drink.
- Left less sweet and drunk as a sour refresher.
History
Detarium senegalense grows in the bush and its hard green fruit is sold in piles at Dakar markets; the pulp is soaked and strained into juice.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ditakh?
Ditakh is a drink from Senegal: green ditakh fruit pulped with sugar and water into a sweet-sour juice. Detarium senegalense grows in the bush and its hard green fruit is sold in piles at Dakar markets; the pulp is soaked and strained into juice.
How long does Ditakh take to make?
Ditakh takes 45 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 1.5 litres. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Ditakh?
Yes, within limits. Tamarind pulp, which gives a different but comparably sweet-sour juice. Frozen ditakh pulp, sold in African grocers, which skips the cracking entirely.
What is the most important thing to get right in Ditakh?
The pulp is scant relative to the weight of fruit, so do not be alarmed by how little each shell yields.
