Making Umqombothi in Kliptown

After our lunch we went to walk to a house where they were making the local beer called Umqombothi. This is a traditional South African Beer made from malt, mielie meal (maize) and yeast. It is very high in vitamin-B and has a sour taste. 

But first a bit of a walk through Kliptown, which its lovely people!

These boys asked me to take a picture of them, love these smiles :-)

School kids on their way home.

A nice day to hang out the laundry.

Some local houses, some very colorful.

Another house.

Before we entered the house we saw some chickens laying around, it looked like they had no feet anymore, maybe these were the chicken feet we had for lunch??

We were invited in this grandfather's home, his daughter was making the beer.

Here is the daughter making the Umqombothi in the kitchen, it was not ready yet, so we couldn't taste it... but I don't think any of us cared that much anyway.

Something green/yellow was floating in there, that I think did not belong in there...

If you don't want to make it yourself, you can buy it in these tetra packs. Looks like a milk carton, but it has the beer in it. And the custom is to share one pack. I went once to a local cafe, called a Shebeen and we had it there. Not my kind of drink!

By the way, do you recognize the song played in this video? It was used at the movie "Hotel Rwanda" and a song played often in African countries. The song is from a great African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka. Africans love to sing and dance! This tradition of making the beer is still done today!

Yvonne Chaka Chaka : Umqombothi

We MaDlamini
Uph’umqombothi (3x)

Verse
I work hard every day
To make my beer
(Umqombothi)
Wake up early every morning
To please my people with African beer
(Umqombothi)
I make sure the fire burns
To make my beer
(Umqombothi)
My special beer Umqombothi
(Umqombothi)
Is African beer

Chorus
We MaDlamini (Everybody)
Uph’umqombothi (Come and drink my)
We MaDlamini (magic beer)
Uph’umqombothi

Verse
I work hard to make them happy
Every weekend (Umqombothi)
Makes them party to the rhythm
Makes them dance, this magic beer (Umqobothi)
I wanna make you happy (Umqobothi)
I wanna make you smile (Umqobothi)
I wanna make you dance (Umqobothi), dance
I’ll make sure there’s a party
Where they drink my special beer
Umqombothi is magic beer
Umqombothi is African beer

Chorus 3x
We MaDlamini (Everybody)
Uph’umqombothi (nawu)
We MaDlamini Uph’umqombothi (nawu madoda)

Wozani ka MaDlamini
Wozani ngithi wozani
Wozani ka MaDlamini
Come on I wanna make you happy
I wanna make you smile lets boogie together
Umqombothi (Umqombothi)

I work hard every day
To please my people with African beer

Here is the recipe so you can make your own beer, it is healthy, so why not give it a try! And it is only 7 easy steps...

Ingredients for Umqombothi:

• 5 kg (about 11 lb.) Malt
• 2.5 kg (5.5 lb.) Mielie Meal
• x2 20g Packets of Brewer’s yeast
• 25 litres of lukewarm water

1. Use a big open dish, mix the malt and mielie meal with the lukewarm water.
2. Leave the mixture in a cool place overnight or until it tastes sour.
3. Boil water in a pot, and pour the mixture into it. Cook for 40 minutes, stirring regularly.
4. After cooking it pour the mixture in an open dish and allow to cool down.
5. When it has cooled down, add more of the malt to the mixture and mix thoroughly.
6. Add the Yeast, mix again and leave overnight.
7. You can strain and serve it the following morning.

What a great experience we had that day in Kliptown, see my previous posts about the Shwe Shwe poppies, the children in the Creche at the Feeding Scheme and our spectacular lunch! This was all done in one day.... just a day in our lives here in South Africa!

I am grateful for all these experiences, it enriches our lives so much!

Hope you have a great day as well,

Mireille xx