Kunun Tsamiya

the tart millet drink of the Hausa Sahel: fermented millet cooked to a smooth, thin gruel and soured with tamarind, spiced and sweetened, drunk cool against the heat and to break the fast

Origin: Nigeria

From the journey of Tamarind.

Kunu is the great family of grain drinks of northern Nigeria and the Hausa Sahel, thin, smooth, lightly fermented gruels of millet, sorghum, or maize that stand at the border of food and drink and are taken at breakfast, through the working day, and to break the Ramadan fast. Kunun tsamiya is the sour version, named for the tamarind, tsamiya, that gives it its character: where other kunu are soured only by their own fermentation, this one is sharpened with the pulp of the tamarind, the great savanna tree that grows wild across the region and whose sour brown fruit is one of the oldest flavourings of West Africa. The drink joins the two staples of the Sahel, the millet that feeds the region and the tamarind that grows over it, and it is at once nourishing and refreshing, spiced with ginger, cloves, and chilli and sweetened to taste, drunk cool from a calabash or a glass. It is a drink of hospitality and of the household, made in quantity and shared, and it carries in every cup the flavour of the dry-country tree under whose shade the village gathers.

Ingredients

400 g millet grain (or millet flour)
60 g tamarind pulp (a lime-sized ball of block tamarind)
2 litres water
30 g fresh ginger, peeled
4 whole cloves
1 small dried chilli, or to taste
100 g sugar or honey, or to taste

Method

Rinse the millet and soak it in plenty of water overnight, or for at least 8 hours, along with the ginger, cloves, and chilli.
Meanwhile, soak the tamarind in 250 ml warm water for 20 minutes, then squeeze and work it with your fingers to release the pulp, and strain it through a sieve, discarding the seeds and fibres. Reserve the sour tamarind water.
Drain the soaked millet and blend it with the ginger, cloves, chilli, and about a litre of fresh water to a smooth slurry. Strain through a fine sieve or muslin into a pot, pressing to extract the liquid, and discard the bran left behind.
Bring most of the strained millet liquid to the boil, stirring constantly, and cook for a few minutes until it thickens slightly into a thin, smooth gruel. Take off the heat and, whisking, stir in the reserved raw slurry, which thins and lightens it.
Stir in the strained tamarind water and sugar or honey to taste, and let down with more water to a thin, drinkable consistency. Cool, then chill. Serve cool, stirring before pouring.

Notes

Kunu is made across northern Nigeria and the Sahel in many forms; this tamarind version is one of the most refreshing. The consistency is a matter of taste and of the hour: thicker and more filling for a meal, thinner for a drink. Some cooks add a little sweet potato or a handful of cooked rice to the blend for body, and the spicing varies with the household. For a stronger ferment, leave the soaked, blended millet to stand a further day before cooking.

The Gastrographer

Name: Kunun Tsamiya
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 12 h
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Nigeria
Ingredients: 400 g millet grain (or millet flour); 60 g tamarind pulp (a lime-sized ball of block tamarind); 2 litres water; 30 g fresh ginger, peeled; 4 whole cloves; 1 small dried chilli, or to taste; 100 g sugar or honey, or to taste

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

To explore — select an ingredient below · click any location dot on the map for recipes and stories · browse the information panel on the right · trace the full journey on the timeline.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control