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Isijingi
Isijingi: Xhosa pumpkin cooked down with maize meal into a sweet, soft porridge
When the big grey-skinned pumpkins come in at the end of summer, Xhosa grandmothers around Butterworth and Ngcobo stew them down and stir in maize meal to make isijingi, a bright orange porridge that children love and adults secretly do too. It is soft and spoonable, gently sweet from the pumpkin and a little sugar, with the faint corn flavour of the meal underneath. Serve it as a side to beans or a vegetable stew, or eat a bowlful on its own for supper on a cold evening. Watery pumpkin is the classic mistake, so cook the pumpkin until most of its liquid has evaporated before the meal goes in. Chef's tip: use a dense, deep orange pumpkin or butternut, not a watery jack-o'-lantern type, for the sweetest flavour.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ lb pumpkinpeeled and deseeded weight, cut into 3 cm chunks; or butternut squash
- 1 ¾ cups water
- 2 tbsp sugaradjust to the sweetness of the pumpkin
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 oz white maize meal
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Put 1 ¾ lb pumpkin in a medium pot with 1 cup water, cover and bring to the boil over a high heat.
Step 2: Lower to a medium heat and simmer, covered, until the pumpkin is completely soft when pressed with a spoon.
15 minStep 3: Take the lid off and mash the pumpkin roughly in the pot. Keep cooking over a medium heat, stirring, until most of the watery liquid has evaporated and the mash looks thick.
5 minStep 4: Stir in 2 tbsp sugar, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, then add the rest of ¾ cup water and bring back to a simmer.
Step 5: Sprinkle in 4 oz white maize meal a handful at a time, stirring hard after each so no lumps form.
Step 6: Cover and cook over a low heat, stirring every few minutes and scraping the bottom, until the porridge is thick and glossy and no longer tastes raw.
10 minStep 7: Taste for sugar and salt and serve warm. Let it cool a little before giving it to small children; it holds heat for a long time.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does isijingi take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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