Local Drinks

1. Fura da nono

   Fu-ra da no-no

   Fura da nono (millet balls in fermented milk)

   Usage

   Millet dough balls (fura) crumbled into fermented milk (nono) — the best-known drink of northern Nigeria, hawked by Fulani women from calabashes carried on the head. ⚠ Made with unpasteurised milk; if your stomach is sensitive, skip it or buy from a shop rather than a street vendor

   Grammar Note

   ⚠ On its own, "nono" is also the word for the breast. Always use the compound "fura da nono" when you mean the drink. Fura can also be mixed with water or plain milk.

2. Kunun aya

   Ku-nun a-ya

   Kunun aya (tigernut drink)

   Usage

   Tigernuts (aya) ground with dates and coconut and strained — a sweet white drink, the local counterpart of Spanish horchata. Sold chilled and popular for breaking the Ramadan fast

   Grammar Note

   "kunu" is masculine, so the genitive linker is -n: kunu + n + aya. The frame takes any ingredient — kunun gyaɗa, kunun gero, kunun dawa, kunun tsamiya.

3. Kunun gyaɗa

   Ku-nun gya-ɗa

   Kunun gyaɗa (groundnut drink)

   Usage

   A thick drink of ground groundnuts and millet, drunk at breakfast alongside ƙosai. ⚠ Worth memorising if you have a peanut allergy

   Grammar Note

   ⚠ The ɗ in gyaɗa is an implosive, distinct from d.

4. Kunun tsamiya

   Ku-nun tsa-mi-ya

   Kunun tsamiya (tamarind millet drink)

   Usage

   Pearl millet (gero) mixed with tamarind (tsamiya) juice, sugar and pepper, then warmed — a tart drink served at harvest time, weddings and celebrations

5. Kunun gero

   Ku-nun ge-ro

   Kunun gero (pearl millet drink)

   Usage

   The most basic kunu, made from pearl millet. Slightly sour, drunk at breakfast and as a thirst-quencher in the heat

6. Kunun dawa

   Ku-nun da-wa

   Kunun dawa (sorghum drink)

   Usage

   The sorghum (dawa) kunu — darker and fuller-bodied than the millet one. ⚠ It is fermented but not alcoholic; the alcoholic sorghum drink is burukutu, a different thing entirely

7. Koko

   Ko-ko

   Koko (thin spiced grain gruel)

   Usage

   A breakfast gruel of pearl millet, maize, acha (fonio) and tigernut, thin enough to drink. The classic pairing is with ƙosai (fried bean cakes)

   Grammar Note

   ⚠ Unrelated to English "cocoa". It is defined as "Abin sha da aka yi da Gero, masara, aca da aya" — a drink made from pearl millet, maize, acha and tigernut.

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