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Fermentation Atlas

Soft drinks from Tamil Nadu, India

Koozh (fermented millet and rice porridge drink)கூழ்

Finger or pearl millet flour is mixed with water and salt and left overnight to sour, then cooked with broken rice into a thick porridge that is fermented again overnight in a clay pot. Before serving it is thinned with buttermilk or water and salted, often with shallots and green chilli. Made in 4 steps over 20 h – 39 h. The longest step, cool and ferment again overnight, takes 12–24 h (Fathimaa A.Y 2026). Lactic acid bacteria and Limosilactobacillus fermentum do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step12–24 hReported[fathimaa2026][ilango2014]Cool and ferment again overnight
AciditypH 4.3–4.9Measured[ilango2014]Cool and ferment again overnight
Fully documentedSoft drinks20 h – 39 hMore soft drinksMore from India

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceOne serving, as consolidated from interviews with 60 elders in Tiruchirappalli district; one cup of broken rice is cooked in three cups of water.
100 gFinger millet flour[fathimaa2026]
50 gBroken rice (noiyee arisi)[fathimaa2026]
100 mLFresh curd churned with water[fathimaa2026]
To tasteSalt[fathimaa2026]
OptionalChopped shallots and green chilli[fathimaa2026]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 h – 39 h

Start
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AlcoholAcetic acidshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriaYeastsMouldsL. fermentum

What changes: Millet flour, water and salt sit overnight and begin to sour

Step 1 of 4
Mix millet flour with water and leave overnight
Time
8–15 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts
Moulds
L. fermentum

Output: sour millet batter.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactic fermentation starts; lactic and acetic acids form

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Koozh is fermented twice, once as a raw millet batter and again after cooking with broken rice, and is thinned with curd or buttermilk only when served.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Kambu koozhPearl millet.
  • Kelvaragu (ragi) koozhFinger millet; the pot may be submerged in water overnight to keep it cool.

Safety

In a study of six street samples, pH was 4.3–4.9 and lactic bacteria dominated, but some samples had high counts of Clostridium, Salmonella and Shigella, which points to contamination after processing. Koozh is usually drunk within about 12 h of preparation.

Hazards the sources name: Clostridium, Salmonella and Shigella (high counts in some street samples).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Kelvaragu koozh is offered and drunk in the Tamil month of Aadi to ward off heat-related illness, and is prepared in homes and offered in temples at festivals.

  1. [ilango2014] Ilango S., Antony U. 2014, Assessment of the microbiological quality of koozh, a fermented millet beverage, African Journal of Microbiology Research 8(3):308–312paper
  2. [fathimaa2026] Fathimaa A.Y., Tamil Malar S., Harine Sargunam J., Amritkumar P. 2026, Kelvaragu koozh, a traditional fermented finger millet beverage of south India with ethnographic and nutritional significance, Journal of Ethnic Foods 13:17paper
  3. [palaniswamy2016] Palaniswamy S.K., Govindaswamy V. 2016, In-vitro probiotic characteristics of feruloyl esterase and glutamate decarboxylase producing Lactobacillus spp. isolated from traditional fermented millet porridge (kambu koozh), LWT 68:208–216 (abstract)paper