Show the Working

Tella

The clay pot is washed with grawa before anything goes into it.

Vegan.

Ingredients

Method

  1. THE CLAY POT IS WASHED WITH GRAWA BEFORE ANYTHING GOES INTO IT. Its article is short and that is one of the four things it says: THE DRINK IS MADE IN A CLAY POT. THE POT IS WASHED WITH A PLANT CALLED GRAWA. Not rinsed with water -- scrubbed with a bitter leaf, which seasons the vessel and suppresses what you do not want growing in it.
  2. SO THE POT IS PART OF THE RECIPE. A brew that depends on wild fermentation depends on what is living in the earthenware, and washing it with grawa is how that is managed without soap.
  3. THE GRAIN IS WHATEVER THE PLACE GROWS. The article names BARLEY OR TEFF typically, and WHEAT, SORGHUM, OR CORN depending on where you are. Barley with a little teff is the common pairing.
  4. ROAST THE BARLEY BEFORE CRACKING IT. Dry pan, ten minutes, until it darkens and smells of bread. This is what gives tella its colour.
  5. THE GESHO IS DRIED AND GROUND FOR THIS ONE. The article specifies DRIED AND GROUND SHINY-LEAF BUCKTHORN LEAVES ARE USED FOR FERMENTATION -- ground, where tej takes it whole, because here it has to work through grain rather than sugar water.
  6. MIX GRAIN, FLOUR, GESHO AND WATER IN THE POT AND COVER IT. It should be a thin porridge rather than a liquid at this stage.
  7. LEAVE IT THREE TO FIVE DAYS, STIRRING ONCE A DAY. It will sour and then turn winey. Warm is faster and sharper; cool is slower and rounder.
  8. STRAIN IT THROUGH CLOTH AND DRINK IT YOUNG. There is no clarifying step and it is not meant to be clear.
  9. IT IS A HOME BREW AND THE ARTICLE SAYS SO -- TELLA IS OFTEN HOME-BREWED -- which is why no two are the same and why the pot matters as much as the grain.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Ethiopia · All recipes