Motoho

Ingredients

The ferment

• 300 gsorghum meal
• finely ground
• 1.5 litreswarm water
• a spoonful of previous motoho
• as a starter, if you have it

To cook

• 1 litrewater
• a pinch of salt

To serve

• sugar, to taste
• warm in a mug
• at breakfast
• or in cold weather

Directions

1. Use clean vessels and clean water. Cover it against insects and dust. Keep it somewhere reasonably warm. It should smell sour rather than foul. Keep some back to start the next batch. Sorghum tolerates heat and dry conditions. Warm is the usual way in winter. Put the sorghum meal in a large jar or bowl. Use a clean vessel with plenty of room.
2. Add the warm water in gradually. Whisk it hard as you pour it in. Whisk it into a smooth thin batter. Take a good moment over doing it. It should be like a thin batter. Stir in a spoonful of previous motoho. Skip it entirely if you have none.
3. Cover the vessel with a cloth. It must keep insects and dust out. Leave it somewhere reasonably warm. Give it at least twenty-four hours. Adjust the time to the temperature. Stir it back together before cooking. Taste a little of the fermented batter. It should be clearly sour to taste.
4. Bring the cooking water to a boil. Add the pinch of salt to the water. The batter goes into hot water. Stir the fermented batter back together. Pour it slowly into the boiling water. Whisk it hard as you pour it in. Take a full minute over the pour.
5. Keep whisking after it is all in. Cooking it takes about twenty minutes. Let it cook for about twenty minutes. Stir it regularly all the way through. It burns very quickly if it does. Stir right into the corners of the pot. Judging it takes a careful taste.
6. Add hot water if it goes too thick. It should pour from a jug easily. Add sugar to it to your taste. Both of them are done in Lesotho.
7. Add it in just a little at a time. Keep it in the refrigerator there. Use it to start the next batch. Serving it is always done warm. Pour it out into warm clean mugs. It is drunk in cold weather particularly.

Technique

• Lactic acid bacteria already on the grain multiply in the warm wet mixture and produce the acid that gives the sourness, which also lowers the pH enough to suppress harmful bacteria — the souring is itself a preservation. Use clean vessels and water, cover it with a cloth so gas escapes, and keep it somewhere reasonably warm. A sour smell is correct; a rotten or putrid one is not, and visible mould means discard it entirely.
• A spoonful of a previous batch brings established bacteria and gives a faster, more reliable ferment — that is how households keep it going, each batch starting the next. Without one it relies on wild microbes and may take two days. Two days is about the sensible limit, since longer turns it harshly sour and risks other organisms taking over.
• Pour the fermented batter slowly into boiling water rather than the other way round, whisking hard throughout — batter poured fast lumps immediately. It should stay thin enough to sip from a mug rather than spoon, and it thickens further as it cools.

Substitutions

• The first batch works without a starter, relying on wild microbes, though it is slower and less predictable.
• Some drink it unsweetened and some add sugar; both are done, and sugar should soften the sourness rather than mask it.

Variations

• Sorghum tolerates heat and drought and grows where maize struggles, which makes it reliable in a hard climate.
• Fermentation breaks down compounds that block mineral absorption, so the souring is nutritionally useful as well.
• A clear liquid rising to the top as it ferments is entirely normal; stir it back together before cooking.

History

Sorghum porridge soured by fermentation for a day or two, drunk thin and tart for breakfast and prized in cold weather.

Frequently asked questions

What is Motoho?

Motoho is a breakfast from Lesotho: tangy fermented sorghum porridge, sipped warm. Sorghum porridge soured by fermentation for a day or two, drunk thin and tart for breakfast and prized in cold weather.

How long does Motoho take to make?

Motoho takes 10 minutes plus fermenting of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Motoho?

Yes, within limits. The first batch works without a starter, relying on wild microbes, though it is slower and less predictable. Some drink it unsweetened and some add sugar; both are done, and sugar should soften the sourness rather than mask it.

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

Use clean vessels and clean water. Cover it against insects and dust. Keep it somewhere reasonably warm. It should smell sour rather than foul. Keep some back to start the next batch. Sorghum tolerates heat and dry conditions. Warm is the usual way in winter. Put the sorghum meal in a large jar or bowl. Use a clean vessel with plenty of room.