← Nouns Cooking · West & East African

Ingredients

• 150 g fresh ginger, unpeeled, grated
• 500 g Brown sugar
• 1 tsp Cream of tartar
• 4 l water (1 litre very hot, 3 litres at room temperature)
• 1 tsp instant dried yeast
• 1 handful Raisins (optional)
• 1 Lemon, juiced (optional)

Method

1. Put the grated ginger, sugar and cream of tartar in a large, very clean bucket or bowl. Pour over 1 litre of very hot water and stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Add the remaining 3 litres of water and check that the mixture is just lukewarm, not hot. Sprinkle over the yeast, stir well and add the raisins and lemon juice, if using.
3. Cover with a clean cloth and leave somewhere warm for 12–24 hours, until bubbly and the raisins float to the top.
4. Strain through a sieve lined with muslin or a clean cloth. Pour into clean plastic bottles, leaving a little space at the top, close and refrigerate.
5. Serve chilled within 3–4 days, opening the bottles slowly as pressure builds.

Tips

• Use plastic bottles, not glass, and release the pressure once a day: fermenting drinks can burst bottles.
• Natural fermentation creates a trace of alcohol (usually well under 1%).

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Woolworths TASTE Food & Home