Recipe

Boza

traditional Bulgarian fermented beverage		 boza

Boza has a thick consistency and a low alcohol content (usually around 1%), and has a slightly acidic sweet flavor. It must be consumed in fairly quick order after making as it does not keep well.  I have not tried this recipe yet but am including it for its potential. If you try it, please let me know about your results.
Ingredients:
  • 5 liters of water
  • 2 cups of millet flour
  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 1 cup of boza or home-made ferment (see below)
Process:
  • Roast the flour until it becomes rosy in colour. (Take care not to burn it). 
  • Mix it with a small part of  the (tepid) water. 
  • Pour the mixture into a pot with the rest of the water.
  • Stir in sugar
  • Bring the liquid to a boil, stirring as needed. 
  • Continue boiling for 5-6 minutes, still stirring as needed.
  • Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool. 
  • Add 1 cup of boza, 1 cup of home-made ferment or prepared yeast mixture (see below). 
  • Leave the mixture in a warm place for 2-3 days to allow fermentation. 
  • When the boza is ready, bottle and store in the refrigerator.
Boza ferment ingredients:
  • 1-2 spoonfuls of roasted millet flour
  • 1 teacupful of tepid water
  • 1 spoonful of sugar
Process:
  • Roast the millet flour lightly without burning. 
  • Mix the flour with the water and stir well.
  • Add the sugar.
  • Leave the mixture in a warm place for 2-3 days to ferment, stirring it from time to time.

Note: The cup of boza or home-made ferment can be replaced by 6-7 moistened and crumbled slices of wholemeal bread /or toast/, or by 6-7 spoonfuls of leaven. In this case before storage the boza has to be filtered (without pressing).

There is reason to suppose that it is also possible to use a mixture of a little bit of yeast, water or milk, and a teaspoonful of sugar which is mixed in advance and allowed to work to a ferment.
Notes:

This recipe is lifted from the Bulgarian Cuisine pages of the site Wonderland Bulgaria.  The original version of the recipe can be found at: Original recipe for boza.

The boza recipe was put together by Angelina Tetevenska based on information from experienced housewives.  The recipe is presented as 'millet ale.'  Other grains are used in other places.

In Bulgaria, boza is a part of a traditional breakfast also including banitsa, a pastry made by layering filo dough with whisked eggs and a white cheese called sirene.  Boza's history dates at least to pre-Ottoman times. Some have claimed that women who regularly imbibe experience breast growth.
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