What it is
A stiff northern swallow made from sorghum, also called guinea corn, cooked into a thick paste and moulded into rounds. It is darker and heavier than tuwon shinkafa and has a faintly sour, grainy taste.
Key ingredients
- Sorghum (dawa) flour
- Water
A list of what goes in, not a recipe. Quantities and method vary by household.
How it is eaten
Moulded into a ball, pinched by hand and dipped into miyan kuka, miyan taushe or another miyan.
Cultural significance
Sorghum is one of the oldest grains grown in the Nigerian savannah and tuwon dawa is the older northern staple that rice-based tuwo has partly displaced. It is still the everyday food of many rural households in the north west and north east, and is valued for keeping hunger away through a day of farm work.
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