Ingredients
Soured milk
- 2 litreswhole cow’s milk
- 4 tbsplive soured milk or plain live yoghurt, as starter
To serve
- sugar, to taste
- couscous, millet or fonio, cooked and cooled
- a pinch of salt
Directions
- Warm the milk to about 35°C (95°F), no hotter. Fulani practice starts from milk still warm from the animal, so there is nothing to heat at all.
- Stir in the starter until it is evenly distributed.
- Pour into a gourd or a jar, cover with a cloth so gas can escape, and leave at warm room temperature for 24 to 36 hours.
- It is ready when it has set thick and tastes properly sour. Stir it smooth — pendidam is served pourable rather than as a set curd.
- Chill thoroughly. Sweeten with sugar just before serving, along with a pinch of salt, which lifts the sourness.
- Pour over cooled millet or couscous, or drink it cold from a bowl.
Technique
- Save four spoonfuls to start the next batch. The gourd itself carries the culture in a household that makes it regularly.
- Sweeten at the end, never at the start. Sugar added before the ferment feeds yeasts and the milk turns fizzy and off.
- Cover with cloth, not a lid. Sealed, the curd rises and splits.
Substitutions
- Buttermilk as a starter.
- Reconstituted powdered milk, which is common across the Sahel and sours perfectly well.
Variations
- Drained through cloth it becomes a thick spread rather than a drink.
- Poured over millet dough pellets it becomes the same dish as Burkinabè gappal.
Frequently asked questions
What is Pendidam?
Pendidam is a cheese & dairy from Cameroon: thick soured cow’s milk from Fulani herds, drunk sweetened or poured over grain.
How long does Pendidam take to make?
Pendidam takes 10 min plus 1 to 2 days souring of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes makes 1.5 litres. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Pendidam?
Yes, within limits. Buttermilk as a starter. Reconstituted powdered milk, which is common across the Sahel and sours perfectly well.
What is the most important thing to get right in Pendidam?
It is ready when it has set thick and tastes properly sour. Stir it smooth — pendidam is served pourable rather than as a set curd.
