Ingredients
Soured milk
- 2 litreswhole milk
- 4 tbsproub or live plain yoghurt from a previous batch, as starter
Equipment
- a gourd or a skin bag, or a jar and a whisk
To serve
- cold, plain
- or stirred into mulah and porridge
Directions
- Warm the milk to about 30°C (86°F) and stir in the starter until evenly mixed.
- Pour into a gourd or a jar and cover with a cloth rather than a lid so gas can escape.
- Leave at warm room temperature for 24 to 36 hours until it has set and tastes sharply sour.
- Chill it for a few hours before churning. Cold soured milk gives up its butter far more readily than warm, and churning it warm gives a greasy mess rather than clean grains.
- Churn it — traditionally by rocking a skin bag suspended from a frame, or by whisking hard in a jar — for 10 to 20 minutes until butter grains gather and clump.
- Lift the butter out, wash it briefly in cold water and press it together. That butter is rendered into samn and used for cooking.
- What is left in the vessel is roub: thin, tart and slightly cloudy.
- Drink it cold, or stir it into mulah stews and sorghum porridge. Keep four spoonfuls to start the next batch.
Technique
- Chill before churning. Warm soured milk will not release its butter cleanly.
- Roub is the point as much as the butter is. It is drunk and cooked with, not discarded.
- Cover with cloth; a sealed vessel builds pressure.
Substitutions
- A stand mixer with a whisk, which does the churning in minutes.
- Cultured buttermilk from a shop, if you only want the roub and not the butter.
Variations
- Gariss is the camel-milk version, kept and topped up continuously.
- Cooked into mulah rob, the Sudanese stew thickened with soured milk.
History
Milk is soured in gourds and churned in skins; the tangy liquid left after the butter is removed is both a drink and a cooking ingredient.
Frequently asked questions
What is Roub?
Roub is a cheese & dairy from Sudan: soured churned milk, drunk cold or cooked into stews and porridges. Milk is soured in gourds and churned in skins; the tangy liquid left after the butter is removed is both a drink and a cooking ingredient.
How long does Roub take to make?
Roub takes 20 min plus 1 to 2 days souring of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes makes about 1.5 litres. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Roub?
Yes, within limits. A stand mixer with a whisk, which does the churning in minutes. Cultured buttermilk from a shop, if you only want the roub and not the butter.
What is the most important thing to get right in Roub?
Pour into a gourd or a jar and cover with a cloth rather than a lid so gas can escape.
