The roots have a high tannic acid content. They are crushed and stirred into 

 ponds as a fish poison, the seeds are also poisonous. The bark is used for string. 

 An infusion of the roots is drunk as a cure for citeta, a disease of women after child- 

 birth. 



Ref. 5; 10; 26. 



195. Eleusine coracana Gaertn. (Gram.). Finger millet. 



Mawere, lipoko (N), umnje (Y), khakwe (Ngu), mulimbi (Se), lupoko (Tu), malesi 



(Tu, Nk, Su), mawe (To). 



A free -tillering erect annual grass believed to have originated from the wild 

 Eleusine indica Gaertn. having been developed by selection at an early date in India, 

 as there are many varieties there where it has long been cultivated. Attains a 

 height of 2-3 ft. and carrying its small grain in a terminal whorl of straight or incurs ed 

 spikes. An important graiji, by most East African tribes considered to be fit as a 

 food only for women and children, its most important use being for beer. Grown 

 all over the country and in large amounts in the Mzimba and Karonga Districts. 



The main use of finger millet in Nyasaland is for beer-making but it is also used 

 for porridge wherever it is grown in large amounts, e.g., the Mzimba and Karonga 

 Districts. 



The grain is stored in the heads; when flour is needed the heads are threshed 

 with sticks and the grain separated by winnowing. The grain is then ground between 

 stones, the woman kneels on the ground in front of a large flat stone and with a 

 second smaller one grinds a small quantity at a time to a foie meal. A little water 

 is poured on to help the grams stick together. Some of the coarse bran is usually 

 winnowed off" but the flour still remains a reddish colour. Some times the grain is 

 roasted before grinding (Chinteche). 



(1) Porridge, nsima. Water is boiled and the flour added rapidly and the 

 mixture stirred for a few minutes only, it is not cooked as thoroughly as porridge 

 made from maize or sorghum flour. In order to improve the flavour, maize flour 

 or bran is occasionally mixed in with the flour before cooking. The porridge is 

 rough in consistency and hence hard to swallow, it is therefore usually served with 

 thelele (cooked mucilaginous leaves) as a side-dish to help it slip down. Because of 

 its consistency it is not well liked and usually only eaten in times of hunger. It is 

 said to cause constipation (Fort Johnston). If the flour is sieved and a fair proportion 

 of the bran removed, the remainder makes an excellent porridge, especially if made 

 with milk, for European consumption. 



(2) Roast Finger Millet, lipoko looca. 



Flour which is still slightly wet from the grinding, is made into a cake and 

 put mto the sheath of a maize cob or banaila leaf. It is then roasted in ashes and 

 eaten. This method is often used by hungry children. 



3. Banana C^^kes, cibama (Nk), zitumbuwa (N.A. Kaluluma's, Kasungu). 

 Flour is pounded with bananas and the mixture made into flat cakes and fried 



if oil is available, if not they are cooked dry in a pan. 



4. Uncooked Flour and Water. 



Mgodo, cigodo (N), ngamba (Y), mperera (N, meaning ground), ciponde (N, meaning 

 pounded), nthimpwa Nk, Tu), unya (Y). 



These are all names for a mixture of the raw flour and water. The grain may 

 be pounded or ground, it is then mixed with water to form a hard cake called cijjonde 

 which may be stored for a day or more and is useful to travellers, or more water is 

 added to form a thin gruel, unya (Y), used as a drink. 



5. Malt, cimera and Beer, peri, mowa. 



Finger millet makes a sweet malt and hence is preferred to any other grain 

 for beer-making. Where it is scarce, effbrts will be made to use at least a proportion 



53 



