Bitter-Sweet, traditional Sudanese Ramadan drinks

CAIRO - 15 May 2019: The Sudanese cuisine is rich with delicious dishes and drinks for Ramadan, most prominently “Hulu-Murr” or the bitter-sweet drink.

The drink is bitter-sweet “Hulu-Murr” because it combines sweet ingredients like sugar, honey and popcorn with lots of spices.



The drink was passed from one generation to another and was first made by Sudanese women using a large amount of sugar.The drink was discovered on the valley of the Blue Nile in 1833 by accident.

Here are the steps of preparing the bitter-sweet drink:

First, it has to be prepared months before the holy month of Ramadan where the Sudanese women buy popcorn, put it on canvas, and water it thenleaveit for two or three days to dry. After drying the popcorn, it has to be crushed carefully before adding all kinds of spices to it.



Second, the crushed popcorn is divided into small portionsand put in large ovens at high temperature; this phase is called “Alawasah”.

Third, soak the small portions of popcorn in water then add a large amount of sugar; the drink is presented cold.