Tinkhobe

Ingredients

The maize

• 500 gdried whole maize kernels
• white maize is traditional
• or yellow maize
• soaked overnight in cold water
• or 500 g samp, cracked maize
• for a quicker version

For cooking

• about 2 litres water
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• or to taste
• a pinch of bicarbonate of soda
• optional

Sometimes added

• 250 gdried beans
• soaked separately
• a knob of butter
• a little sugar
• for a sweeter version

To serve

• emasi, soured milk
• or fresh milk
• salt, to sprinkle
• cooked greens, on the side

Directions

1. Rinse the maize in several changes of water. Pick out any grit, husk or damaged kernels. Cover it generously with cold water. Soak it overnight, or for at least eight hours. Drain it and discard the soaking water. Those moulds grow in warm damp storage.
2. Discard discoloured, dark or shrivelled ones. Never use grain that smells musty or stale. Use a heavy pot with a thick base. Thin pots scorch the grain on the bottom.
3. Cover it with plenty of fresh cold water. Cover it by at least five centimetres. Bring it up to a full rolling boil. Skim off any foam that rises at first. Cover the pot partly with a lid. Simmer it for at least two hours. Check the water level every half hour. Top up with boiling water, never cold water. Cold water stops the cooking and hardens grain.
4. Stir it from time to time so it does not catch. Use only a small pinch, since more tastes soapy. Add salt in the last half hour of cooking. Salt added early can toughen the hulls. They should be soft but still distinctly chewy.
5. Drain off any remaining water when done. Soak the beans separately overnight. Boil them hard for ten minutes first. Then simmer them until they are tender.
6. Add them to the maize for the last half hour. Toss it with a knob of butter if you like. Add a little sugar for a sweeter version. Serve it warm in a bowl or on a plate. Pour emasi over it, which is the classic partner. Emasi is soured milk, thick and tangy.
7. Use cultured buttermilk or thin plain yoghurt instead. It travels well and stays edible cold. Add a splash of water when reheating. Dried whole maize keeps for a year or more.

Technique

• Whole dried maize takes two to three hours to cook and there is no way around it. Soaking overnight shortens it considerably and gives more even results. A pinch of bicarbonate of soda softens the hulls further, but too much tastes soapy and destroys vitamins, so many cooks simply wait.
• The kernels should be soft but still distinctly chewy, never soft like rice. Chewiness is the character of the dish; a chalky centre means it needs longer.
• Top up with boiling water rather than cold. Cold water halts the cooking and can leave the grain permanently hard.
• Stored maize can carry aflatoxins from mould, which cooking does not destroy. Discard any mouldy, dark, shrivelled or musty-smelling kernels.
• Emasi, naturally soured raw milk, is the traditional partner. Raw milk can carry harmful bacteria and souring does not reliably destroy them, so cultured buttermilk or thin plain yoghurt is the safer choice for a cook working outside that tradition.
• Keeping maize whole rather than milling it is a storage decision as much as a taste one. Whole grain keeps far longer than meal, which goes rancid, and households boiled only what they needed.
• If you add beans, cook them separately. They cook at a very different rate from whole maize, and dried beans need a hard ten-minute boil first to destroy their lectin.

Substitutions

• Samp, or cracked maize, replaces whole kernels and cooks in about half the time, giving a softer result.
• Tinned hominy replaces the whole cooking process entirely; drain, rinse and warm it through.
• Yellow maize replaces white, which is preferred locally, and works perfectly well.
• Cultured buttermilk or thin plain yoghurt replaces emasi safely.
• Dried beans added in the last half hour turn it into the maize-and-bean dish made across the whole region.
• Butter, sugar or salt alone are all used, and the plain salted version is the everyday one.

Variations

• Umngqusho, the samp and bean dish of the Xhosa, is the best known relative and is made the same way with cracked maize.
• A sweeter version with sugar and butter is made as a treat, particularly for children.
• Tinkhobe cooked with peanuts or groundnut flour is richer and more filling.
• Fresh green maize kernels, cut from the cob at harvest, make a seasonal version that cooks in minutes.
• A version simmered until the kernels burst and thicken the liquid gives a looser, porridge-like dish.
• Related whole-maize dishes are eaten across southern and eastern Africa under many names.

History

Whole maize kernels boiled until tender and eaten by the handful, often with sour milk poured over them.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tinkhobe?

Tinkhobe is a snack from Eswatini: boiled whole maize kernels, chewy everyday staple. Whole maize kernels boiled until tender and eaten by the handful, often with sour milk poured over them.

How long does Tinkhobe take to make?

Tinkhobe takes 10 minutes plus overnight soaking of preparation and 2 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Tinkhobe?

Yes, within limits. Samp, or cracked maize, replaces whole kernels and cooks in about half the time, giving a softer result. Tinned hominy replaces the whole cooking process entirely; drain, rinse and warm it through. Yellow maize replaces white, which is preferred locally, and works perfectly well. Cultured buttermilk or thin plain yoghurt replaces emasi safely. Dried beans added in the last half hour turn it into the maize-and-bean dish made across the whole region. Butter, sugar or salt alone are all used, and the plain salted version is the everyday one.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tinkhobe?

Discard discoloured, dark or shrivelled ones. Never use grain that smells musty or stale. Use a heavy pot with a thick base. Thin pots scorch the grain on the bottom.