Boza: A Fermented Beverage Made from Grains
By Tom Andersen
Boza, also known as bosa, can’t quite decide if it’s a thick drink or a thin custard. Apparently it’s been all the rage in Turkey and the Caucasus for the last ten millennium or so but it’s finally making itself popular here. It is tangy, tart, rich and smooth. It’s drunk at room temperature or cool but it is typically a wintertime drink commonly topped with roasted chickpeas and cinnamon. I’m a big fan of cinnamon toast so I load the topping up with the classic cinnamon-sugar mix.
Boza is lightly fermented from grain mush using corn, wheat, bulgar or millet. Millet is a cereal grain that is full of protein, calcium and plenty of other healthy stuff. Millet thrives in arid and semi-arid lands. They need no irrigation and resist drought. According to a botanist friend of mine, agriculturists are speculating that millets may be the lifesaver grain as the world warms up. Well, we all know that wherever there are people, food and drinks are being fermented from whatever happens to be handy for both nutrition and levity so here we go.
Making boza doesn’t require much effort, but each of the grains acts a little differently so you do have to pay attention to the viscosity as you go along. It’s probably a good idea to seek out a coffee shop or store bought sample to get a benchmark.
Making Boza
This recipe is for millet and bulgur.
1 cup grains
4 cups water
1/2 tsp bread yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
More sugar and cinnamon for the top
Nuts
You’ll be doing five things: Soaking, cooking, straining,fermenting, and flavoring.
Wash the grains and put them into a BIG bowl. Cover with a few inches of water. Be advised, they grow like the Blob so check on them in a few hours lest the cup runneth over. Let them soak overnight. Tomorrow, dump out the soaking water. In a large pot add the grains and 4 cups of water. Cook them on medium heat for about half an hour – until it is mushy like gloppy oatmeal. Let it cool a little. From here on, make sure everything is really clean or sanitized. Strain the mush through a mesh strainer pushing it through with a spatula.Or if you still have a Foley food mill, now is the time to break it out. You want the goop, not the grit. Let this cool to just warm. Into ½ cup of warm water add the sugar and yeast. Let the yeast explode then mix it into the mush. Cover and place in a cool (65-70 F) spot out of the sun and let it ferment for 12 to 24 hours. Taste along the way. When you like the tanginess, put it in the fridge to stop it.
Serve cool with a dash of cinnamon and roasted chickpeas – if you want to be traditional.
Roasted Chickpeas
1-½ cups of cooked garbanzo beans or one can
1 T olive oil
¼ tsp salt
1 T honey
Up to 1 T cinnamon
Rinse and drain the garbanzo beans. Rub them dry in a towel and remove as many husks as you can. You probably won’t get them all. Place them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and roast them for 25 to 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Don’t burn them. Let them cool. Check for crunchiness when they are cool. As they are cooling, mix up the salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the oil then the honey. Adding the oil first lets the honey slide right out. Dump the nuts into this mixture and coat them well. Roast them again for about 15 minutes keeping an eye on them. Let them cool. They should be crunchy and delicious.
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Thomas Andersen
Tom Andersen is a writer, cook, martial arts instructor and lifelong Felton resident. He explores the world of fermented food and drinks in print and online. Tom lives in Felton with his family and many pets. He is currently working on a cookbook about fermentation.
