Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Jabana (Sudanese Spiced Coffee)
Freshly roasted coffee ground with spices and brewed in a clay jabana pot, poured tall and sweet, the heart of Sudanese hospitality.
Sudanese · medium · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 15 min
~38 cal · 0g protein · 10g carbs · 0g fat · 0g fiber · 10g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Jabana is Sudanese spiced coffee, brewed in a distinctive clay pot of the same name, the beans freshly roasted, ground with spices like ginger or , and brewed strong, then poured from a height through a filter. It is the heart of Sudanese coffee culture.
The ceremony of roasting, grinding, and brewing jabana is a social ritual, often performed by women who run coffee stalls, filling the air with fragrant smoke. Served sweet in small cups, it is a moment of pause and connection.
Enjoyed at street stalls and homes across Khartoum, jabana is a cousin of the Ethiopian and Eritrean coffee ceremonies, spiced and strong.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
4 tbsp freshly roasted coffee beans
4 cups water
5 pods
1 small piece cinnamon
2 cloves
1 tsp ginger
3 tbsp sugar, to taste
Instructions
1
Crush the roasted beans coarsely in a mortar with the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and ginger, stopping well short of a fine powder.
✎ Chef’s note
Coarse, not fine. Sudanese coffee is pounded in a wooden or steel mortar called a funduk, and leaving the pieces coarse is what lets the spices come through instead of being buried under an over-extracted brew. The beans are roasted fresh over charcoal for each pot, which is the part of the ritual that fills the house with smoke and scent before anyone drinks anything.
2
Heat the water in a clay jabana (or a small pot) until bubbles form at the edge, stir in the spiced coffee, and hold it at the barest simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Never let it gallop. A hard boil forces bitterness into the cup, and the whole method is built on slow, low extraction, which is also why the traditional vessel is unglazed clay with a rounded base and a narrow neck.
3
Let the grounds settle, then pour it in a slow thin stream through a fine strainer or a palm-fibre filter into the serving pot.
4
Sweeten to taste and serve in small handleless cups, poured tall to build a little foam.
✎ Chef’s note
Jabana is the name of the clay pot, and it has given its name to the drink. It is poured more than once in a sitting: the second and third brews come out lighter and more aromatic, and leaving after the first is not really how it is done.
Sudanese coffee-ceremony tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Khartoum. Peanut is a sauce ingredient here rather than a snack. Dakwa, ground peanut, goes into stews and into salads such as salata aswad, made with grilled aubergine. Breakfast is fuul, fava beans cooked soft and dressed with sesame oil and crumbled white jibna cheese.
🗺️
Sudan. Sudanese cooking bridges Arab and African worlds, built on sorghum, ful medames, and stews thickened with peanut or dried okra (weika). Flatbreads like kisra and gurasa scoop up richly spiced sauces.
🌍
Africa. The structure repeats across most of the continent: one starch and one sauce. A grain or root is cooked stiff, torn or rolled by hand, and used to carry a stew of leaves, groundnut, okra or fish, usually from a shared bowl and with the right hand. UNESCO listings have followed that logic, inscribing couscous in 2020 as a shared Maghreb tradition and Ivorian attieke in 2024.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Sudan
Bamia (Sudanese Okra Stew)Tender lamb and okra simmered in a garlicky tomato broth spiced with black lime, Sudan’s everyday comfort, scooped with kisra.
GurasaA thick, soft Sudanese griddle pancake eaten with a stew or with sugar and ghee for breakfast.
ShaiyahStrips of lamb quickly fried with onion, peppers, and spices, a popular Sudanese meat dish for gatherings.
Browse all Sudan recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Mortar and pestle.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a Sudan meal
Bamia (Sudanese Okra Stew)Dinner
Basbousa (Semolina Cake in Syrup)Dessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Qahwa OmaniOman
QishrYemen
Shahi bil Ful (Libyan Tea)Libya
Ethiopian Coffee (Buna)Ethiopia
PinolilloNicaragua
Koko SamoaSamoa
Drinks
Frequently asked questions
What is Jabana (Sudanese Spiced Coffee)?
Freshly roasted coffee ground with spices and brewed in a clay jabana pot, poured tall and sweet, the heart of Sudanese hospitality.
Where does Jabana (Sudanese Spiced Coffee) come from?
Jabana (Sudanese Spiced Coffee) is a Sudanese dish from Khartoum, Sudan.
Can Jabana (Sudanese Spiced Coffee) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Jabana (Sudanese Spiced Coffee) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Jabana (Sudanese Spiced Coffee) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Jabana (Sudanese Spiced Coffee) take to make?
About 25 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.