Betty was a Sotho woman who looked after my brother and me when we were in primary school. When we got home from school, there was always a pot of putu standing ready on the old coal stove. Sometimes we had it with boerewors, other times with milk and sugar, or butter and sugar. Then we went out and played for the rest of the afternoon with our friends…
Basic instructions for two people
Ingredients
- 250ml (1 cup) water
- 375 ml (1-1/2 cup) Iwisa maize meal
- Salt to taste (pinch to 1/2 tsp)
Method for slap pap
- Boil the water (and salt) in a large pot.
- Add maize meal to the centre of the pot.
- Close the lid and let the pot steam for 20 minutes until all the water has been absorbed by the maize meal.
- Stir thoroughly with a big serving fork
- Add more water (up to a 1/4 cup, depending on how moist you want your putu), and leave to steam for another 15 minutes
Tip! To change the consistency of the pap to ‘stywe’ or ‘slappap’, simply add more water. Experiment until you have found the pap your ouma made…