COPPERBoule recipe
Boule, called esh in Chadian Arabic, is a stiff millet or sorghum dough beaten in boiling water, shaped into a dome and dipped into a shared sauce.
Ingredients
- 500 g millet flour
- 1000 ml water
- 1 pinch salt
How to make Boule
- Bring 1 litre of water to the boil in a heavy pot.
- Add 500 g of millet flour (or sorghum flour) a handful at a time, beating hard with a wooden spatula after each addition so no lumps form.
- Keep adding flour and beating until the mixture is very thick and elastic and pulls away from the sides. Add a pinch of salt if you like.
- Lower the heat, cover and let it cook for 5 minutes, then beat again for 1 minute to smooth it.
- Press the hot dough into a bowl rinsed with water, then turn it out onto a serving plate as a dome.
- Serve at once in the middle of the table with a sauce such as daraba or okra sauce; everyone tears off a piece with the right hand and dips it.
What is Boule?
Boule is a traditional dish from Chad, boiled, and takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. It is built around millet flour. The recipe below uses 3 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Boule take?
At 30 minutes it is quicker than 97% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. The method runs to 6 steps, the longest being 5 minutes.
Any tips for making Boule?
Add the flour a handful at a time and beat hard after each one, until the dough is thick enough to pull away from the pot.
How Boule compares
At 30 minutes, Boule is among the 20 quickest of the 586 dishes Copper documents. Millet flour appears in no other dish in the atlas.
Copper documents Chad alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.