Breaking bread is a self-evident action of camaraderie and trust, but abstaining from bread can have the same effect. The commiseration of starvation is just as suitable a societal glue as the shared enjoyment of eating. Thus, fasting rites in cultures around the world reinforce ties between individuals while marking boundaries between those who fast and those who don’t. Famously, Ramadan unites Muslims around the world in a month-long, day-time fast. In Sudan, a country that is over 95% Muslim, fasting unites, but so does breaking fast. Everynight, across the country, Sudanese break fast with a unique non-alcoholic, spiced beer called hulu mur.
Sorghum, native to the expanse of Sudan, is one of the main staple crops in the national diet. From sorghum, the Sudanese make aceda, a porridge, kisra, a flat bread, and nasha, a gruel. In addition to these cuisines, sorghum is the base of a white drink called abreh as well as the Ramadan evening breakfast beverage, hulu mur.
Hulu mur, from Arabic meaning “sweet bitter,” is a traditional beverage made by soaking a traditional dough in water for a couple hours (but not long enough to ferment). The drink is more sour than it is bitter, but sugar is added to make it sweet. It is consumed especially during the evening breakfast iftar of Ramadan and is loved for its quenching properties after a long day of Siam or fasting.
The drink spawns a seasonal ritual as the production of hulu mur begins during the Islamic month of Shabaan immediately preceding Ramadan. Women across the country take two equal parts of red feterita sorghum; one part is ground into a dry flour and the other part is sprinkled with water until it sprouts. This process of malting is known locally as zureea and the sprouts are dried and ground into a flour.
The unmalted flour is boiled into a thick porridge called aceda. Then the malted flour is added. The porridge miraculously thins and becomes sweet. This liquid mixture is seeded with dough from a prior batch of bread and is allowed to ferment in a warm corner. A cocktail of juices and herbs is then added consisting of cinnamon, date juice, hibiscus, ginger, galangal, coriander, cardamom, and pepper, among other things. Wealthy households might also add more luxurious flavorings like rose water or tamarind juice, which are produced by soaking fruit in water until soft then straining. The spiced slurry of sorghum is fermented again and then baked.
Uwassa or baking occurs on a wide flat sheet over a wood fire. The batter is poured onto the pan and spread back and forth to cook evenly in a thin sheet. The pancakey sheet is then folded and dried on mats for a day or two. The crumbs of these sheets are the end result and can keep for up to 2 years in a dry place.
Suleiman gives one example of a recipe:
A quarter of sorghum, half of it is a fresh sorghum and the second half is ground, a quarter of a pound of fennel. 1/4 pound cilantro, 1/4 pound ginger, half a pound cinnamon, 1/4 pound honey, a quarter of a pound of lute (sweat), a quarter of a pound of cumin, 2 grams of fenugreek, A pound Aradib (tamarind), a pound of hibiscus. The spices are ground and mixed (except for tamarind) which is soaked in water until softened and then filtered.
When the month of fasting comes around, the stored hulu mur bread springs to life. Each afternoon, the dried flakes are crumbled into water and mixed with sugar. By the time the fast is broken, the drink is well infused, but not enough time has passed for alcoholic fermentation to occur. It is served, often chilled or with ice, and quenches the day long fast of the entire nation.
While no fermentation occurs after the bread is mixed with water, hulu mur is a fermented product. During the production of the bread, lactic acid and acetic acid bacteria ferment the feterita grain porridge. To a much lesser extent, yeast ferments the dough. This fermentation does not create booze, but it does enrich the nutritional value of the bread with vitamins. According to a University of Khartoum thesis by Marhoum, the bread is composed of 31% sugar, 14.3% protein, 3.8% lactic acid, 3.5% ash, and 41% starch. After fasting all day, the drink is the pinnacle of replenishment.
The history of this beverage, and its breakfast tradition, is not ancient. Feterita sorghum was likely discovered in Sudan in 1833 according to Suleiman. Surely it is possible that other strains of sorghum were used for the purpose, but the signature red color that hulu mur inherits from the malted feterita is no more than 200 years old. Islam, on the other hand, had roots in Sudan long before domesticated feterita.
Hulu mur, a sweet and sour Sudanese specialty, is enjoyed simultaneously by an entire country. As synchronized as the Sudanese Muslims are in fasting, they are in just as much unison in breaking that fast, down to the very first sip they take. Not only is hulu mur a beverage bound within the borders of Sudan, but it is bound to a specific time–the hour of iftar during the month of Ramadan.
Baidab, Sara FA, et al. “Preparation of Hulu-mur flavored carbonated beverage based on Feterita sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) malt.” International Journal of Food Studies 5.2 (2016).
Elkhalifa, Abd Elmoneim Osman. “SUDANESE WOMEN AND TRADITIONAL USES OF FERMENTED SORGHUM.” Ahfad Journal 22.2 (2005).
Ibnouf, Fatma Osman. “The value of women’s indigenous knowledge in food processing and preservation for achieving household food security in rural Sudan.” Journal of food Research 1.1 (2012): 238.
Marhoum OA (1987) Biochemistry and microbiology of hulu–mur fermentation. MSc thesis, University of Khartoum, Sudan.
Sulieman, Abdel Moneim Elhadi. “Production and Quality Assessment of Hulu-mur Fermented Beverage.” African Fermented Food Products-New Trends. Springer, Cham, 2022. 313-328.
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