I always get so excited when I get to write about a specialty from my city, and today I’ll be writing about how to make a popular spicy fermented millet drink at home as well as how to store it.
In my dialect, this hot millet beverage is known as zomkom or zomkoum. Together, the two words that make up the phrase “Zomkom” stand for flour (“Zom”) and water (“Kom”).
I’ll just pretend that the word “Zomkom” means “flour water” in English. In numerous West African nations, including Ghana, Burkina Faso, and many others, this beverage is extensively consumed.
Here are some advantages of eating millet:
1.Millets are a high source of fiber, which makes you feel fuller for longer periods of time, which aids in weight loss. This thus reduces your appetite.
2. Millets are rich in antioxidants; their high polyphenol content aids in the body’s removal of dangerous free radicals.
3. Millets are wonderful for gut health because they have a lot of soluble and insoluble fiber, which controls how quickly food is digested. If you want to eliminate gluten, this is a good substitute.
4. Despite the fact that millets are healthful, it is crucial to stress that they should be used in moderation. Millets contain goitrogens, which is why this is the case.
Ingredients in millet drinks
*900 grams of Millet,
*about half a hand full of Cloves
*7 Ginger
* a sugar cup
* 2 tablespoons of Black pepper
*2 large chilly pepper
*Evaporated milk, if desired
*Ice cubes
*Water at room temperature
Making a spicy millet beverage:
1. Millets should only be washed several times in clean water.
2. Take out the floating millet chaff from the water.
3. Carefully transfer the millets into a different bowl after each wash to allow you to remove any stones or sand that may have settled.
4. When you are certain there are no more stones or sand after several rinses.
5. Rinsed millets should be soaked for at least eight hours; I do mine over night.
6. Drain the water in which the millets were soaked.
- Rinse millets twice in clean, fresh water.
8. Combine the water at room temperature with the millets, ginger, cloves, black pepper, and chilli pepper.
9. After combining, get a sizable bowl and a cheesecloth or sieve.
10. Place a small amount of the fermented millet paste in the sieve.
11. To remove the chaff from the millet flour, add some water and rub your hands together.
12. You’ll notice the chaff turning green or grey when the millet flour and chaff have been appropriately separated.
13. Discard every piece of separated chaff.
14. Because millet flour settles quickly, it is crucial to thoroughly mix the millet drink using a spoon or spatula.
15. Include several ice cubes.
16. To make it sweeter, add some sugar and stir thoroughly to prevent the sugar from sinking to the bottom.
ZOMKOUM IS READY FOR YOUR SMOOTH AND COOL FEELING IN YOUR THROAT WITH THIS SPICED MILLET DRINK.
OPTIONAL: If you have a sweet tooth and are wondering how to make millet drink taste wonderful and creamy, all you need to do is add more sugar and either evaporated milk or full-cream milk.
Voila!!! Your sweet tooth is waiting for creamy Zomkom.
The fact that this drink is undercooked may also have you questioning if it is healthful. You need not be concerned because millet may be consumed raw.
When I prepare zomkom, I frequently have leftovers. So my next article will be about how to store leftover zomkom.
HOW TO PRESERVE ZOMKOM
*Get covered bottles.
*Gently wash the bottles and sanitize them in hot water.
* Drain the bottles of any extra water.
*Use a funnel to transfer the leftover Zomkom to the sanitized bottles; this will make the operation quicker and cleaner.
*Avoid stuffing the bottles to the gills.
*Zomkom settles quickly, so you’ll need to shake the bottle well to thoroughly mix it before drinking. You may easily mix the beverage thoroughly anytime you wish to drink it thanks to the remaining space in the bottle.
*To preserve Zomkoum, place the bottles in the freezer or refrigerator.
Please take note that glass bottles tend to break or burst when frozen, therefore it is preferable to use plastic bottles if you plan to freeze any remaining zomkom.
