Wanke

Ingredients

cooking pot soot, hot water, gabarawa pods (Acacia nilotica)

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Soot is collected from the bottom of cooking pots. This soot is boiled or steeped in hot water. The resulting liquid is filtered or decanted to remove coarse particulates (p. 24). The color varies from light yellow to dark golden brown depending on the wood burned. To intensify the color, malams added tannins and mordants such as gabarawa pods (Acacia nilotica) (p. 24).

Evidence

"Wanke is the ink most widely encountered in Northern Nigerian manuscripts. Made from soot collected from the bottom of cooking pots, it was boiled or steeped in hot water."

Remarks

This ink produces a marked modulation in tone from dark to light within the same pen stroke (p. 24). It is the most common ink found in the region's manuscript tradition.