Jamie Fortune, Pap meal, Chakalaka and Soghum beer

Jamie Fortune in UK

Lynn’s (my sister) son Jamie arrived from South Africa on Tuesday. I have been quizzing him about national dishes eaten in Johannesburg, his home town. His immediate response is a braii with chakalaka and pap. The children and women wash their spicy chakalaka relish down with amasi, whilst the men enjoy sorghum beer.

cooking pap in a township

How to Cook Sadza | Krummelpap

Sadza, Isitshwala or Pap Ingredients
To make traditional Zimbabwean Sadza (isitshwala) you will need:

2 – 4 cups white mielie meal / cornmeal / maze meal.
water
To make the Sadza (isitshwala):
First boil about 4 cups of the water in a pot.

Set aside about 1/4 of your mielie meal and mix the rest with about 3 or 4 cups of water to make a thick paste – make sure you have a strong arm and wooden spoon!

Then slowly add this paste to the boiling water, stirring all the time, this will prevent lumps from forming and bring to the boil again, don’t talk too much with your friends around the braai or it will stick and burn the bottom of the pot! Keep cooking and stirring for a few more minutes.

Then slowly add the remaining mielie meal to the pot. The sadza should be very thick and smooth, it should then begin to pull away from the sides of the pot and form a large ball. Cook for a few minutes more.

That’s it, then transfer it to a bowl and serve your sadza (isitshwala or pap) with relish or meat (nyama)

Chakalaka

Chakalaka Recipe:

SERVES 8
Ingredients
50 ml canola oil
30 g chopped fresh ginger
30 g chopped fresh garlic
20 g chopped chili peppers
200 g chopped onions
500 g tomatoes, roughly chopped
100 g green peppers, roughly chopped
100 g red peppers, roughly chopped
50 g leaves masala
200 g grated carrots
450 g vegetarian baked beans, in tomato sauce
10 g fresh coriander
Directions
1Fry ginger, garlic, chillis, onions in the oil.
2Add the leaf masala or curry powder of your choice.
3Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.
4Add peppers and carrots and cook for 10 minutes. Add baked beans and cook for 5 minutes.
5Remove from heat and add coriander. Check seasoning. Serve with whatever you want, hot or cold.

Traditional African beer making

A Soghum beer recipe found on someone’s blog:

“Gluten-free beer recipe

7.5 lbs. sorghum extract
2 cups lightly toasted buckwheat groats (crack with rolling pin)
3 oz. Cascade hops (60-15-10-5 schedule)
1 packet Danstar Windsor brewing yeast
I cooked 6 gallons in 32 quart stainless steel brew pot over propane burner. Soaked buckwheat groats in a grain bag in water and brought it up to 180 degrees. Squeezed out and removed grain bags and then added sorghum extract as it was coming to a boil. Added first batch of hops, then added successive batches as the boil progressed. I saved ½ oz. for dry hopping in secondary but this is optional.

I had to remove the pot a couple of times to keep it from foaming over. I remembered to add an extra gallon of water to compensate for evaporation during boil. I might actually go with 6.5 gallons next time as it still came up a little short. Set brew pot into large plastic tub with water and 2 large bags of ice. Had to add ice several times but it did bring the temp down to 80F pretty quickly. Poured hot wort through strainer into 6 gallon ale pail and took it into the house. Pitched 1 packet of yeast at 80 degrees F and sealed with an airlock. Starting specific gravity was 1.044.

The beer turned out much better than expected and my dad loves it. I’ve drunk a few bottles as well and, although it has a distinctive taste – it is very drinkable and great for quenching your thirst on a hot summer day.”