Panel design showing infused and soaked drinks in Sudan by Zainab Gaafar

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Sudanese cuisine includes many dishes and drinks associated with its dry and hot weather. Certain drinks are served and enjoyed on different occasions or different states of health. Many adults will remember how, as children, they were made to drink different types of teas to ease a bout of stomach pain or cure a sore throat. Areas with dry climates around Sudan produce fruits like baobab, nabag or doum and wild plants like harjal (Solenostemma Arghel), maharib (Lemongrass, barbed wire grass) and roots like ghurunjal (Galangal Root). Locally, there are two known methods used to extract taste and flavor from all these different plants. Infusion, which means the plant is added to hot water or is boiled in water. This process is mainly used to produce teas or hot drinks as well as extracting various health benefits from the plants. Or soaking which means they are left in water at room temperature to allow the taste to infuse slowly. This is mainly used for cold and refreshing beverages.

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Karakade or hibiscus tea, is one of the most known Sudanese products and is drunk both as a hot drink, sometimes called shiriya, or as a cold drink, after it is soaked in water for some time, the length of time is relevant to how fresh or strong the hibiscus flowers are.

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Fermented drinks also undergo a soaking phase to bring out the taste, such as hilu-mur or abray made from sprouted sorghum seed sprouts that are dried, flavored, fermented and cooked into sheets which are then soaked in water and sugared before serving.

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Cover picture © Sari Omer, Eldamazin

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