🇧🇮 Burundian Cuisine

Urwarwa

Banana Wine

Prep Time 5 days
Servings 8
Difficulty Medium

A traditional fermented beverage made from ripe bananas that are mashed, filtered, and left to ferment naturally into a mildly alcoholic drink with a sweet, fruity flavor.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1 Select very ripe, almost overripe bananas with heavily spotted skins for maximum sugar content and flavor.
  2. 2 Peel bananas and place in a large basin. Mash thoroughly by hand or with a wooden pestle until completely pulped.
  3. 3 Add a small amount of roasted sorghum flour to aid fermentation and mix well into the banana pulp.
  4. 4 Strain the mixture through dried grass or a cloth filter to extract the juice, squeezing to get all the liquid.
  5. 5 Pour the filtered juice into a fermentation vessel, cover loosely, and leave at room temperature for three to five days.
  6. 6 The wine is ready when it bubbles gently and has a pleasantly sour, mildly alcoholic taste. Serve from a communal gourd.

Did You Know?

Urwarwa is traditionally shared from a single large gourd with long straws, symbolizing community and unity among drinkers.