Braai Life

Recipes / Sides

Stywe pap with chakalaka

Firm maize porridge with a spicy relish of onion, peppers, carrot and beans. The side dish for any braai.

Coals
Medium coals
Prep
20 min
On the fire
40 min
Serves
6

Ingredients

Pap

  • 750 ml (3 cups) water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 500 ml (2 cups) white maize meal
  • 1 tablespoon butter (optional)

Chakalaka

  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 or 2 chilies, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon medium curry powder
  • 3 carrots, grated
  • One 400 g (14 oz) can chopped tomatoes
  • One 410 g (15 oz) can baked beans in tomato sauce
  • Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Start the chakalaka. Heat the oil in a pot over medium coals or on the stove. Cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft.
  2. Add the garlic, ginger, green pepper and chilies and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the curry powder for 1 minute.
  3. Add the carrots and tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick.
  4. Stir in the baked beans, heat through for 5 minutes, and season with salt and pepper. Chakalaka is served warm or cold.
  5. For the pap, bring the water and salt to a boil in a heavy pot with a lid.
  6. Pour in the maize meal in a steady stream, stirring with a wooden spoon until there are no lumps.
  7. Put the lid on and move the pot to very low heat. Steam for 30 minutes, stirring firmly every 10 minutes.
  8. Stir in the butter. Serve the pap with chakalaka spooned over it.

Done when: the pap is stiff enough to hold its shape on a spoon and no longer tastes raw or gritty.

Tips

  • White maize meal is sold as mealie meal or maize meal. Fine white cornmeal is the closest substitute, and it may need a little more water.
  • If the pap gets too stiff to stir, add a splash of boiling water.
  • A crust forms on the bottom of the pot. Many people think it is the best part.
  • Chakalaka keeps for 5 days in the fridge and tastes better the day after it is made.

Pap is maize porridge and it is eaten across southern Africa. Stywe pap is the firm version, stiff enough to pick up in your fingers. Chakalaka is a spicy vegetable relish that started in the townships around Johannesburg.