Boza

Step 1: Toast 5 ½ oz millet flour and 1 oz plain wheat flour together in a dry, heavy pan over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the flour turns a pale biscuit colour and smells like toasted bread. Do not let it scorch.

Step 2: Tip the warm flour into a bowl and whisk in 500 ml of the 2 cups water, a little at a time, to a smooth, lump-free batter.

Step 3: Bring the rest of the 6 ¼ cups water to the boil in a large pot. Whisk in the batter and simmer over a low heat, stirring often and scraping the bottom, until it thickens into a thin, glossy porridge that coats a spoon.

Step 4: Take off the heat and leave until only just warm to the touch, about 86°F. Test on the inside of your wrist: if it feels hot, wait longer, because heat kills the yeast.

Step 5: Stir in 50 g of the 1 ¾ oz white sugar and the ½ tsp instant dried yeast. Cover with a clean cloth and leave at warm room temperature (22–79°F) for 18–24 hours, stirring once or twice. It is ready when the top is full of small bubbles, it smells sour and bready and tastes pleasantly tangy.

Step 6: Press through a fine sieve into a large jug, pushing with a ladle to get all the thick liquid through; discard the gritty bran left behind.

Step 7: Stir in the rest of the 5 ½ oz white sugar until dissolved, then taste: it should be clearly sweet with a sour finish. Add a splash of water if it is too thick to pour.

Step 8: Pour into clean plastic bottles, leaving a quarter empty, and refrigerate. It keeps 3–5 days in the fridge and gets sourer and slightly more alcoholic each day. Open the caps once a day to release pressure (a firm, swollen plastic bottle tells you it is building). Throw it away if you see mould, it turns slimy or it smells rotten rather than sour.

Step 9: Shake well and serve cold in glasses, with a pinch of ¼ tsp ground cinnamon on top if you like, alongside banitsa.