Papa le mafi

Ingredients

The papa

• 400 gmaize meal
• medium or fine
• 1.2 litreswater
• 1 teaspoonsalt

The mafi

• 800 mlmafi
• thick soured milk
• or thick plain yoghurt
• or buttermilk
• well chilled

Sometimes served with

• a little sugar
• on the side
• or a pinch of salt

To serve

• hot papa, cold mafi
• in one bowl
• eaten with the right hand

Directions

1. Use a shop cultured product for them. Stiff maize porridge exists across the region. Put about a third of the meal in a bowl. Add cold water and whisk it smooth. Understanding the cold water is worth explaining. Use cold water for the slurry always. Whisk it until completely smooth. Bring the rest of the water to a boil. Add all of the measured salt to it.
2. Pour the slurry into the boiling water. Whisk constantly as you pour it. Pour it in a thin steady stream. Whisk throughout the whole pour. That is exactly what prevents lumps. Let it simmer for about ten minutes.
3. Stir it regularly all the way through. It should be like a thick soup. Add the remaining meal gradually. Stir it in fully as you add it. Add it in one handful at a time.
4. Work every addition in fully first. The porridge gets extremely stiff. Use a strong long wooden spoon. It takes real force towards the end. Keep the heat low once it is thick. Stand back and use a long spoon.
5. Keep children well away from the pot. Cover the pot and lower the heat. Let it steam for about fifteen minutes. The maize needs cooking right through. Stir it hard once or twice while steaming. It stops it catching on the bottom. Taste a little piece of the papa. It should taste cooked rather than raw.
6. Cook it longer if it tastes raw. Preparing the mafi is straightforward enough. Take the soured milk from the refrigerator. The mafi is always served cold.
7. Keep it chilled until serving. Do not warm the mafi up at all. Leave fresh milk in a warm place. Discard anything that smells wrong. Spoon the hot papa into a bowl. Pour cold mafi over or beside it. Both of them are done in Lesotho. Steam it or fry slices to reheat.

Technique

• Papa is made in two stages: a thin porridge first, then the rest of the meal worked in gradually to stiffen it, a handful at a time with each addition fully incorporated before the next. Adding all the meal at once gives lumps that never disperse. Mix the first portion with cold water into a smooth slurry, since hot water cooks it instantly into lumps.
• Stiff porridge spits violently as it bubbles, and those spits are extremely hot and stick to skin. Keep the heat low once it thickens, stand back, use a long strong wooden spoon and keep children well away from the pot. Stirring becomes real work towards the end.
• Traditional mafi is raw milk soured naturally by the lactic bacteria already in it — a genuine preservation method thousands of years old, since the acid it produces prevents spoilage. But it does start from raw milk, which carries some risk in itself: commercial yoghurt or buttermilk are made from pasteurised milk, work perfectly here, and are what anyone pregnant, very young or with low immunity should use. Deliberately soured milk smells clean and tart where spoiled milk smells rotten, and those are genuinely different smells.

Substitutions

• Thick plain yoghurt or buttermilk stand in for mafi; thick yoghurt may need a splash of milk to loosen it and buttermilk is a little thin.
• To make mafi at home, leave fresh milk in a warm place for a day or two to thicken and turn tart, which works best with unhomogenised milk.

Variations

• The papa is served hot and the mafi cold, and that temperature contrast — along with the plain against the sour — is the point of the meal.
• Stiff maize porridge exists across the region under many names: sadza in Zimbabwe, nsima in Malawi, oshifima in northern Namibia, papa in Sesotho and South Africa.
• Papa is done when it pulls away from the pot sides and forms a single mass; taste it too, since raw maize is chalky where cooked papa is clean and mild.

History

The everyday Basotho meal in a country where sour milk keeps far better than fresh in the mountains.

Frequently asked questions

What is Papa le mafi?

Papa le mafi is a main from Lesotho: stiff maize porridge eaten with thick soured milk. The everyday Basotho meal in a country where sour milk keeps far better than fresh in the mountains.

How long does Papa le mafi take to make?

Papa le mafi takes 5 minutes of preparation and 35 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Papa le mafi?

Yes, within limits. Thick plain yoghurt or buttermilk stand in for mafi; thick yoghurt may need a splash of milk to loosen it and buttermilk is a little thin. To make mafi at home, leave fresh milk in a warm place for a day or two to thicken and turn tart, which works best with unhomogenised milk.

What is the most important thing to get right in Papa le mafi?

Pour the slurry into the boiling water. Whisk constantly as you pour it. Pour it in a thin steady stream. Whisk throughout the whole pour. That is exactly what prevents lumps. Let it simmer for about ten minutes.