Sadza

Ingredients

Sadza

• 400 gfine white maize meal (hupfu, roller or super-refined)
• 1.2 litreswater

To serve

• muriwo unedovi or another relish
• warm water and a cloth for washing hands

Directions

1. Bring 1 litre of water to a rolling boil in a heavy pot with a wide mouth, so there is room to beat.
2. Mix 120 g of the maize meal with the remaining 200 ml of cold water into a smooth slurry, with no dry pockets.
3. Whisk the slurry into the boiling water and cook this thin porridge, called bota at this stage, for 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring regularly, until it thickens and no longer tastes floury.
4. Start adding the rest of the maize meal a handful at a time, beating hard with a wooden mugoti after each handful so it is fully worked in before the next goes on.
5. Once all the meal is in, lower the heat, cover for 3 minutes to let it steam, then uncover and beat again; this alternation of steaming and beating is how Zimbabwean cooks get the texture smooth.
6. Keep cooking and turning for a total of 12 to 15 minutes after the last meal goes in. Finished sadza pulls away from the pot in one glossy mass and the mugoti will stand upright in it.
7. Wet a serving spoon or a small bowl, scoop a fist-sized portion, and turn it onto each plate as a smooth white dome.
8. Serve immediately with the relish. Wash hands, tear off a piece with the right hand, roll it into a ball, thumb a hollow in it and scoop.

Technique

• Sadza is the centre of the plate, not a starch on the side, and a Zimbabwean meal without it is not considered a meal. Everything else on the table is muriwo or relish, judged by how well it goes with the maize.
• Lumps mean the meal went in too fast. The cold-water slurry and the two-stage build exist entirely to prevent them.
• Bota, the loose stage before you stiffen it, is breakfast in its own right, eaten with peanut butter, sugar or sour milk.
• Zimbabweans distinguish sadza rezviyo, made from finger millet and dark brown, from the white maize sadza that took over after colonial-era maize milling; the millet version is older and now sold as the healthier choice.

Substitutions

• Only fine white maize meal will do. Coarse polenta gives a gritty, yellow, sweet porridge that is a different food. Millet or sorghum meal makes the traditional darker sadza, cooked the same way.

Variations

• Sadza rezviyo, the finger millet version, is denser and slightly bitter.
• Sadza remhunga is made from pearl millet, common in the drier Matabeleland south.

History

Maize meal cooked stiff, eaten twice daily; maize arrived through Portuguese trade and became Zimbabwe’s staple in the colonial era.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sadza?

Sadza is a main from Zimbabwe: stiff white maize porridge at the center of every meal. Maize meal cooked stiff, eaten twice daily; maize arrived through Portuguese trade and became Zimbabwe’s staple in the colonial era.

How long does Sadza take to make?

Sadza takes 5 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sadza?

Yes, within limits. Only fine white maize meal will do. Coarse polenta gives a gritty, yellow, sweet porridge that is a different food. Millet or sorghum meal makes the traditional darker sadza, cooked the same way.