1
Make slurry
Whisk sorghum flour with lukewarm water until smooth. Stir in sorghum malt or starter if using.
Lesotho | Breakfast
Motoho
Basotho sour sorghum porridge made by fermenting a sorghum slurry overnight, then cooking it smooth for breakfast.
Country
Lesotho
Region
Southern Africa
Time
760 min
Serves
4
Level
medium
Recipe overview
What to know before you cook
Motoho needs time more than fuss. Let the sorghum sour gently overnight, then cook it slowly until the raw edge disappears.
What the dish tastes like
Basotho sour sorghum porridge made by fermenting a sorghum slurry overnight, then cooking it smooth for breakfast.
When to cook it
Best for Cold highland mornings, with a medium cooking level and about 760 minutes total.
What to serve alongside it
Plain, lightly sweetened, or with milk offered separately
Follow the collection
Vegetarian Africa is the easiest collection to explore after this dish. Vegetarian Africa
Regional lane
Lesotho national table. A verified Lesotho dish in the AfroKitchen archive.
Chef watch-outs
- Rushing the rest or fermentation period.
- Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
- Adding all seasoning early and forgetting to adjust at the end.
How you know it is ready
- The bread or batter should smell pleasantly fermented, toasted, or nutty rather than floury.
- The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
- Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.
Recipe photos
See the dish before you cook
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Chef board
Build the table around Motoho
Plain, lightly sweetened, or with milk offered separately
Best route from here
Lesotho national table
Collections to keep cooking
How to cook it
Step-by-step method
Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.
5 steps
760 min total
medium
2
Ferment
Cover loosely and leave in a warm place until pleasantly sour and lightly bubbly.
Ferment overnight
720:00
3
Cook porridge
Bring the remaining water to a boil. Whisk in the fermented slurry slowly and reduce the heat.
4
Simmer smooth
Simmer, stirring often, until the porridge is smooth and the raw sorghum taste is gone.
Simmer motoho
20:00
5
Finish
Season lightly with salt or sugar if using. Serve warm, or cool to drink as a thinner sour porridge.
Some households back-slop with a little previous motoho; others use sorghum malt or natural fermentation.