How to make kunun zaki

This recipe was sent in by J O Olajide, Department of Food Science and Engineering, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.

The soft drink segment of the Nigerian beverage industry is heavily dependent on imported raw materials. Virtually all its ingredients - namely concentrates, sugar, and additives - are imported. The need of many developing countries like Nigeria to conserve their scarce foreign exchange (as a result of an adverse economic situation) by limiting imports has led to the consumption of locally made foods as substitutes for imported ones.

Kunun zaki, a non-alcoholic beverage produced from millet and spices (ginger, cloves, red and black pepper) is now becoming more popular among the low and middle income workers who cannot afford industrially produced soft drinks like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Schweppes, etc. The method of preparation of the drink is described below.

INGREDIENTS AND EQUIPMENT

10kg dehulled millet

100g of spices (ginger 65g, cloves 5g, red pepper 25g and black pepper 5g)

Sweetener (sugar) as needed

Earthenware pot, buckets for steeping and mixing

150um mesh sieve
Muslin cloth

HOD

Steep the cleaned dehulled millet grains in 30 litres of water at ambient temperature for 24 hours.

Wet-mill the steeped grains with 100g of the spices.

Wet sieve the milled grains using a 150um mesh sieve.

Allow the slurry to settle for three to five hours and decant the supernatant (clear liquid above the sediment).

Gently pour the slurry into a muslin bag (filter cloth) and remove excess water by pressing to obtain the cake.

Divide the cake into two parts (Part A should be two thirds of the mixture, and Part B, one third).

Mix Part A with a small quantity of water and add boiling water to a ratio of 16 parts of water to 1 part of slurry for partial gelatinization of the slurry.

Mix Part B with cold water in a ratio of 16 parts of water to 1 part of slurry.

Thoroughly mix the two slurries (Part A and Part B) and add sweetener (sugar) to taste. The product obtained is the kunun zaki.

Pasteurize the kunun zaki at 90°C for one minute in a stainless steel saucepan or earthenware pot

Add metabisulphite (if using this type of preservative).

Hot fill the kunun zaki into clean, sterilized bottles or containers, put on caps, and lay the bottles on their sides to cool.

Pasteurization and refrigeration at 4°C can extend the shelf life from a period of 1 to 7 days.