Eghajira

Ingredients

Millet

• 300 gmillet, pounded, or coarse millet flour

Fruit and nuts

• 200 gdates, stoned
• 100 ggroundnuts, roasted
• 50 graisins, optional

Cheese

• 100 gdried goat’s cheese, tchoukou, grated
• or a hard dry cheese

Liquid

• 1 litremilk, fresh or reconstituted
• 500 mlwater

Sweetening

• sugar to taste
• a pinch of salt

Equipment

• a wide wooden bowl and a carved wooden whisk

To serve

• at a wedding, a naming ceremony, or the Cure Salée

Directions

1. Soak the millet, then pound or blend it with a little water into a coarse paste.
2. Keep it coarse rather than smooth, since the texture is part of the drink. Stone them and pound them into a paste, or chop them very finely.
3. Roast the peanuts, rub off the skins and grind them coarsely. Any hard dry cheese grated finely gives something similar, and a mild dried curd is closest.
4. Leave it out if you must, and the drink will be sweeter and less complex. Put the pounded millet, dates, groundnuts and grated cheese in a wide bowl. Add the milk and water gradually while whisking.
5. Add the liquid in stages rather than all at once, which lets everything combine smoothly.
6. Whisk it for several minutes until it is smooth, thick and frothy on top. It takes real effort and it is often shared between people taking turns.
7. Add sugar to taste, though the dates provide a good deal already. It is served cool rather than cold, since ice is not always available.

Technique

• It is beaten with a carved wooden whisk spun between the palms.
• Tchoukou, sun-dried hard cheese, is what keeps in a hot climate without refrigeration.
• It is drunk from a large shared bowl passed round.

Substitutions

• Any hard dry grated cheese in place of tchoukou.
• Powdered milk reconstituted, which is common in the region.

Variations

• Made without cheese, which is sweeter.
• With raisins or other dried fruit added.
• Made thicker, closer to a porridge.

History

A Tuareg celebration drink beaten in a wooden bowl with a carved whisk and shared at weddings, name-giving ceremonies and the Cure Salee gathering.

Frequently asked questions

What is Eghajira?

Eghajira is a drink from Niger: pounded millet, dates, cheese and milk whisked into a thick festival drink. A Tuareg celebration drink beaten in a wooden bowl with a carved whisk and shared at weddings, name-giving ceremonies and the Cure Salee gathering.

How long does Eghajira take to make?

Eghajira takes 45 min plus soaking of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Eghajira?

Yes, within limits. Any hard dry grated cheese in place of tchoukou. Powdered milk reconstituted, which is common in the region.

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

Keep it coarse rather than smooth, since the texture is part of the drink. Stone them and pound them into a paste, or chop them very finely.