Recipes / Sides
Pap tert (pap and chakalaka bake)
Layers of stiff maize-meal pap, spiced chakalaka, cream and cheddar baked until golden on a kettle braai or in the oven.
- Prep
- 20 min
- On the fire
- 1 hr 5 min
- Plan ahead
- 10 minutes resting before serving
- Serves
- 6
- Done at
- 165°F (74°C)
Ingredients
Pap
Chakalaka
To finish
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Set up for indirect heat: light the outside burners (or one side of a two-burner grill) and leave the burner under the food off.
- Close the lid and adjust the lit burners until the lid thermometer reads the temperature in the recipe. Put a drip tray under meat.
- Gas holds a steady heat, so you can skip any step that adds fresh coals. Go by a thermometer in the food rather than the clock.
- Make the chakalaka first. Heat the oil in a heavy pan or cast-iron pot over medium heat and cook the onion for 5 to 7 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Add the garlic, ginger and curry powder. Stir for 30 seconds without letting the spices scorch.
- Add the carrots and peppers. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the vegetables have softened but still hold some texture.
- Stir in the baked beans, salt and pepper or chilli. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes until the mixture is thick enough to sit in a layer without running. Remove from the heat.
- Make the pap. Bring the water and salt to a full boil in a heavy pot. Add the maize meal in a slow, steady stream while stirring continuously to prevent lumps forming.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom every few minutes. Stir in the cream-style sweetcorn at the end. The pap should be very stiff and hold a spoon upright.
- Grease a deep baking dish, roughly 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 inches), or a 26 cm (10 inch) round cast-iron dish.
- Spread half the pap evenly over the base of the dish. Spoon all the chakalaka over it in an even layer. Drizzle over half the cream.
- Spread the remaining pap carefully over the chakalaka layer, then pour the remaining cream evenly over the top.
- Cover the surface with the grated cheddar.
- For a kettle braai: set up for indirect cooking at 180°C (350°F) with coals banked to both sides and no coals directly below the dish. See /tips/kettle-braai-indirect-setup/ for the setup.
- Place the dish on the cooking grate away from the coals. Cover the dish with foil and close the kettle lid. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and lightly browned. Rotate the dish halfway through if the fire has hot spots.
- For a conventional oven: bake uncovered at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and the edges are bubbling.
- Remove from the heat and rest for 10 minutes before cutting so the layers firm up.
Done when: the edges are bubbling, the cheese is deeply melted and lightly browned, and a thermometer pushed into the centre reads at least 74°C (165°F).
Tips
- Loose pap makes the layers collapse. If your pap is not holding a spoon upright, cook it uncovered for a few more minutes before layering.
- Add the maize meal gradually in a thin stream. Tipping it in all at once creates lumps that are hard to work out.
- Keep the chakalaka thick. If it looks wet after adding the beans, simmer it a few minutes longer before layering.
- On a kettle braai, keep the coals moderate. Strong heat from below scorches the pap base before the centre warms through.
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking. Reheat until the centre reaches 74°C (165°F) again before serving.
- A camp oven or three-legged potjie works too. Use a moderate bed of coals underneath and a larger layer on the lid; avoid direct flames.
Pap tert takes the everyday pairing of stiff maize-meal pap and chakalaka and turns it into a layered bake. Chakalaka — a spiced vegetable relish with baked beans — has roots in South African township cooking and has long been the natural companion to pap at a braai. Layering the two with cream and cheddar and baking them together is a practical way to feed a crowd from a single dish.
The tert fits naturally alongside grilled meat at a braai. It also works as a standalone vegetarian main. For the pap and chakalaka served separately, see stywe pap with chakalaka.