Tungba

[Placebo]

When I spent some time in Nepal, one of my favorite evening meals was a plate of momos and a mug of tungba. Tungba is essentially a fermented millet drink, served by combining the fermented millet and hot water in a mug and then sipping it through a straw made to filter out the millet grains. You can generally refill the mug 2 or 3 times before needing to change out the millet. The taste is reminiscent of sake.

I've not seen the stuff outside of Nepal and am wondering about trying to make it. The descriptions I've seen have essentially been to soak the millet in water put it in a burlap sack and leave it in the closet for a month. I spoke with the owner of a local Nepali restaraunt who was talking about making some but apparently the millet here is all wrong and I imagine the cost of shipping it out is rather prohibitive (as, I suspect, are Washington's wacky likker laws). I'd love to try my hand at making the stuff but am not really sure where to begin. Any thoughts?