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Pap (stywe pap and krummelpap)
South Africa's white maize porridge, cooked stiff to scoop or crumbly for the braai
Pap is the everyday staple of South Africa, eaten in Soweto kitchens and Limpopo villages at almost every evening meal, and in a three-legged pot at every braai. It is plain white maize meal cooked in water, in two main styles: stywe pap (stiff pap), smooth enough to roll into balls and dip into relish, and krummelpap (crumbly pap), steamed into dry, fluffy crumbs. Both are eaten with chakalaka or a tomato-and-onion sauce. Chef's tip: wet the meal to a paste before it hits the boiling water, or you'll be fighting lumps for the next 20 minutes.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: For stywe pap, bring 500 ml of 2 cups water and 1 tsp salt to the boil in a heavy saucepan over a high heat.
3 minStep 2: Mix 150 g of 5 ½ oz white maize meal (super maize meal) with the remaining 1 cup water to a smooth, runny paste, then whisk it into the boiling water. Stir until it thickens and bubbles like porridge.
Step 3: Add the rest of the maize meal on top without stirring, cover and leave over a low heat for 5 minutes to steam.
5 minStep 4: Stir hard with a wooden spoon until smooth, then cover and cook over a low heat, stirring firmly every 5 minutes, until it smells nutty, pulls from the sides of the pot and no longer tastes raw.
20 minStep 5: For krummelpap instead, put all the maize meal straight into the boiling salted water without the paste, and stir with a fork rather than a spoon every 5 minutes so it breaks into fine, dry crumbs.
Step 6: A common mistake is serving it too soon: under-cooked pap tastes floury and gritty. Serve hot, shaped into balls with a wet spoon, with chakalaka.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 250 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 54 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pap (stywe pap and krummelpap) take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 2 minutes to prepare and 28 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.
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