Boza (Fermented Millet Drink)
بوزا (باجرے کا خمیری مشروب)
On winter evenings in Istanbul, boza sellers still walk the streets calling "bozaaa!". Boza is a thick, pale drink made by cooking millet into a thin porridge and letting it ferment for a day or two. It tastes sweet and gently sour, a little like a drinkable pudding, and it's served cold with a dusting of cinnamon and a handful of roasted chickpeas. Millet is *bajra* in Pakistan, so the main ingredient is easy to find.
- ⏱ Total: 45 min
- Prep: 10 min
- Cook: 35 min
- Medium
- Serves 6
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Whisk the millet flour into the cold water in a heavy until smooth, with no lumps.
Bring to a boil, then cook on low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring often, until it's like a thin porridge. Add a little water if it gets too thick.
Cool until just warm. For the smoothest drink, push it through a fine sieve. Stir in a third of the sugar and the yeast.
Cover and leave at room temperature for 24–36 hours, until it smells pleasantly sour and has small bubbles.
Stir in the rest of the sugar, chill well and serve thick in glasses, topped with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas.
Kitchen notes
Like all yeast-fermented drinks, boza contains a very small amount of alcohol from fermentation. It stays low when it's drunk fresh, and rises the longer boza sits. Keep it in the fridge and finish it within 2–3 days. If you avoid any fermentation alcohol at all, this drink isn't for you.
Fermentation is faster in summer and slower in winter. Taste it after 24 hours.
Ground semolina or a mix of millet and rice flour also work, giving a lighter boza.
A winter drink from the street
Boza is one of the oldest drinks in the region, made in various forms across Turkey, the Balkans and Central Asia. In Istanbul it’s tied to winter nights: sellers carrying big containers walking through neighbourhoods after dark, and the famous old boza shop in the Vefa district, open since the nineteenth century, where people still stand at the counter with a glass, cinnamon and a bowl of chickpeas.
What you are making
Boza is a cooked millet porridge, thinned, sweetened and fermented. The fermentation gives the tang and a few tiny bubbles. In Pakistan, bajra is the same grain used for bajra roti, and bajra flour is sold by most chakki and grocery shops.
About fermentation
Any drink fermented with yeast makes a little alcohol, and boza is no exception. When boza is fresh, the amount is very small. It grows if boza is left out or kept for many days. We suggest fermenting for no more than a day and a half, then chilling it and finishing it within two to three days. Readers who avoid any fermentation alcohol should skip this one and try salep instead, another thick Turkish winter drink.
Serving
Serve cold in glasses, dusted with cinnamon, with roasted chickpeas on top or on the side.
Questions people ask
What does boza taste like?
Thick, sweet and slightly sour, with a grainy, comforting flavour. Somewhere between a drinking yogurt and a thin pudding.
Why roasted chickpeas on top?
It's the Istanbul tradition. The crunchy chickpeas (leblebi) contrast with the thick drink.
Is it served hot or cold?
Cold, but it's a winter drink. In Turkey it's sold from about November to March.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 210
- Protein
- 4 g
- Fat
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 45 g
