For those of you who know about Dawa, great, you speak Hausa or at least you know a little bit of Hausa. But for those of you who don’t, Dawa is the Hausa name for Guinea Corn.
Guinea corn is the main ingredient for making Kunun Zaki or “Dawa Juice”, the milk-ish colored local drink people take with things like buns, biscuits, puff-puff etc.
Today at Dee’s Mealz, I’ll be showing you guys how to make Kunun Zaki. It is quite easy, so get your pots ready and let’s start cooking.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 tins of guinea corn
- 1 medium size sweet potatoes
- 7 pieces of dry ginger
- 1 tablespoon of Cloves
You can watch the video below to assist you in making your own Kunun Zaki
PREPARATION
STEP 1
The first thing to do is to soak the Guinea corn overnight. This is to make it soft and very easy to grind.
STEP 2
Set your pot on heat, add 2 liters of water and allow to boil.
Wash the soaked guinea corn with water twice, add a little water and set aside.
Pound the ginger or break them into small chunks and add to the guinea corn.
Add the cloves into the guinea corn and mix.
Wash the sweet potatoes and cut into small chunks, add to the guinea corn, mix and take for grinding.
STEP 3
Fetch the paste and turn into a wide bowl or basin, add a little water and mix.
Mix the remaining paste with a little water and set aside.
Now turn the boiling water into the paste in the wide bowl till it looks thick (just like how custard looks when you put some hot water and mix).
Mix with a spatula and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.
After the time is up, add the raw paste into the bowl and mix. Allow to completely cool down.
STEP 4
Get an empty bowl and a head tie like sieve. Spread the sieve in the bowl.
Using a cup, fetch the mixture and turn in the bowl with the sieve. Sieve and turn the chaff into a tray and continue sieving till you are done.
Now add the sugar and mix till it’s all melted.
You can serve immediately or turn into a rubber and set in the fridge to cool down before serving.
Conclusion
My Mum taught me how to make Kunun Zaki when I was 15 and I have been making it since then, somedays it turns out good and somedays, you know, not always perfect.
But even at that, I kept trying. Today, I can say I’m pretty good at making this drink.
So, if you don’t get it right at first, you can always try again. The best part is, you don’t need a lot of ingredients.
As an indigene of Kaduna state, we make Kunun Zaki a lot. We sometimes make it to serve guests when there is a tribal meeting, weddings, or just to drink at home.
Some people add groundnut and Tiger Nut (Aya) when making their Kunun Zaki.
I haven’t tried that before but I heard it tastes good. Let me know in the comments if you’ve made yours with groundnuts or tiger nuts or both and tell me how it tastes.
I must confess, most of the time I take kunun zaki, it makes me sleep but even with that, I still love taking it.
Expect more from Dee’s Mealz. Cheers.
