Mealie Pap
Overview
Mealie pap, also spelt mielie pap or mieliepap, is South African maize porridge. To make mielie pap, you put white maize meal and just-boiled water in a heavy pot and stir it without stopping for about ten minutes as it comes to the boil. Then you cover it, cook it slowly for about forty minutes, stirring often, and loosen it with warm milk. Pap is the Afrikaans word for porridge, borrowed from Dutch. Mealie meal is ground white maize. It's a staple food across southern Africa, eaten soft or stiff depending on the meal. Soft pap with sugar and milk, or with golden syrup or maple syrup and butter, is breakfast. Made stiff, it's the starch of a main meal with meat and relish, which is where pap en vleis comes from. There's also a dry, crumbly version called krummelpap, or phuthu, that's eaten especially in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. It has close relatives across the continent, made from the same maize: ugali in Kenya and Tanzania, sadza in Zimbabwe and nsima in Malawi. Maize itself isn't native to Africa; the Portuguese brought it over from the Americas in the 1500s and 1600s. One warning for shoppers abroad: mealie meal isn't cornflour, which is a refined starch and won't make pap.
AFN Heritage Note
Mealie pap is a South African porridge of milled white maize, with close relatives across the continent including ugali, sadza and nsima. Maize was introduced to Africa from South America by the Portuguese.
Ingredients
Dietary tags come from contributors and AFN does not verify them. They also depend on the products you buy. Recipes here are published for learning, not as medical or dietary advice. If you have an allergy or a medical condition, check every ingredient yourself and talk to a doctor or dietitian. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Boil the water in a kettle. Add the water and maize meal to a large cast iron or heavy-bottomed pot.
- 2
Heat slowly, bringing it to the boil while stirring continuously with a wooden spoon so no lumps form, for about 10 minutes. It will make small plopping sounds as it thickens.
- 3
Lower the heat, cover the pot and let the porridge cook for 40 minutes, lifting the lid and stirring frequently so it does not catch or burn on the bottom.
- 4
For the optional sauce, heat maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. It will bubble almost immediately, so watch it closely. Once it starts to bubble, take it off the heat, add the butter and stir slowly with a spatula until melted. Set aside.
- 5
The porridge should now be very smooth and thick but not stiff.
- 6
Stir in the milk, adjusting the consistency to your preference.
- 7
Serve hot with a sprinkle of sugar and a drizzle of the maple butter sauce.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Nympha Nzeribe- Stir continuously for the first ten minutes. Lumps form in the first few minutes and cannot be stirred out afterwards.
- Use a heavy-bottomed pot. Thin pans catch on the base, and burnt maize flavours the whole pot.
- Keep lifting the lid and stirring through the forty minute cook. Pap settles and sticks.
- Mealie meal is not cornflour. Cornflour is a refined starch and will not make pap; grits, cornmeal or polenta are the workable substitutes.
- Adjust the milk at the end to the consistency you want. Some prefer it thick enough to hold a spoon, others runnier.
- For a savoury version, leave out the sugar and serve with chopped spring onion and sliced boiled egg.
Questions cooks ask
What is mielie pap in English?
Maize porridge. Pap is the Afrikaans word for porridge, and mielie (also spelt mealie) means maize. So mielie pap is porridge made from white maize meal. Depending on how thick it's cooked, you'll hear it called slap pap (soft porridge), stywe pap (stiff enough to hold in your hand) or krummelpap (dry and crumbly).
How do you make mieliepap without lumps?
Stir it without stopping for the first ten minutes, while the maize meal and water come to the boil. Lumps form in those first few minutes, and once they're there they won't stir out. After that, cover the pot. Keep lifting the lid to stir through the forty-minute cook so it doesn't catch on the bottom.
How long does mielie pap take to cook on the stove?
About an hour. That's ten minutes of steady stirring while it comes to the boil, then about forty minutes covered on a low heat, stirring often so it doesn't catch.
Is maize meal porridge good for infants?
It can be part of a baby's diet once they're ready for solids. South Africa's infant feeding guidelines say to start small amounts of solid food from six months, beginning with smooth, soft foods. The World Health Organization also recommends starting foods other than milk at six months, while breastfeeding carries on. The WHO warns that starting solids much earlier or later than that can hold back a baby's growth. This recipe is written for adults, with salt, sugar, cow's milk and a maple butter sauce. Ask your clinic or health visitor how to make pap for a baby.
What is the difference between mealie meal and cornflour?
Mealie meal is ground white maize with some texture to it, sold coarse or fine. Cornflour is a refined starch and won't make pap at all. If you can't find mealie meal, grits, cornmeal or polenta are the closest swaps, and grits keep a slightly grainy texture.
Is mielie pap the same as ugali, sadza and nsima?
It's the same basic dish under different names: ugali in Kenya and Tanzania, sadza in Zimbabwe, nsima in Malawi and pap in South Africa. The differences are in how thick it's made and what it's eaten with. Pap is often made softer and eaten sweet at breakfast, which is less common elsewhere.
What do you eat with mealie meal porridge?
For breakfast, soft pap is eaten with milk and sugar, or with golden syrup or maple syrup and butter. Stiff pap goes with meat and relish as the starch of a main meal, which is what pap en vleis means. AFN has recipes for pap en vleis and for the tomato and onion pap sous that goes with it. For a savoury bowl, leave out the sugar and top it with chopped spring onion and sliced boiled egg.
Reviews
2 reviews
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I was wondering how maple syrup and butter would taste on pap because back home in Kaduna we just use milk and sugar for akamu. Abeg e sweet sha! Only thing is mine took more than 10 mins of continuous stirring to stop lumping and start making those plopping sounds, but after the 40 mins under low heat it was perfect.
Herh, 40 minutes on low heat is the real secret oo. In Ghana we use maize meal for banku or koko, but this South African pap with warm milk and brown sugar is so comforting. My arm was tired stirring with the wooden spoon for those first 10 minutes to clear the lumps, but the texture turned out very smooth paa.