A great traditional Southern African staple. You will love this dish!
Weird title isn’t it!!! Let me explain. My wife is Zambian, born and bred and this is a pretty typical staple in Zambia (I did use pork belly because that’s all I had at the time. Generally you would use a cheap cut of beef such as short rib or chuck). This is a dish that you need to cook low and slow especially if you are using a cheaper cut of beef. Lets discuss the nshima. Nshima is basically the “porridge” that you create with white cornmeal, just like polenta but with plain water and maybe some salt if need be. In South Africa we call the same porridge “pap” and we use it traditionally with a barbecue (braai) with a well made tomato relish. Ill explain how to make a good nshima later on.
Now for the relish. This can be made with anything your heart desires, we love pork belly cut into nice chunky pieces but a good beef short-rib or chuck would do just as well. If you are vegetarian leave the meat out completely and it will still be delicious. Any relish will start with copious amounts of onion finely diced and sweated with a good amount of salt and white pepper. Traditionally diced tomato would be added but we prefer to use tomato paste as it keeps the mixture dryer and assists with the frying of the ingredients without having to worry about all the excess water the tomato makes. Fry the tomato or paste pretty well as you want the mixture dry before adding the kale.
In Zambia or South Africa we would use rape or marog leaves instead of kale but kale is a perfect substitute. Please don’t use spinach or chard as it creates too much liquid while frying. Try and chop your kale as finely as possible, we prefer the stalks and all as it gives the dish a great texture. Once you have added the kale cook to your liking, some people will like a crunchier kale while others like a tender well cooked kale…this is all up to you.
Lets talk nshima or pap.
If you can only get polenta then that will work just fine. In Spain we can only get pre-cooked “harina de maiz” and it works perfectly. If you can get the PAN brand then that is as close as you are going to get to a traditional maize flour from Southern Africa. White maize flour is best. Start with about two inches of water in a pot and add salt to taste…don’t add too much as you will have a pretty heavily salted relish.
Once your water comes to a rolling boil take off the heat and start adding your maize flour. NEVER add the maize meal while the water is still boiling as you will burn yourself. Add flour whisking constantly until you reach the consistency of a loose cake batter (this will differ depending on if you have a precooked flour or not). Unfortunately this takes some getting used to and your personal preference. Some people like a very loose porridge while others prefer a pretty solid porridge. If using a pre-cooked maize meal this needs to cook for about 15 minutes. If you are using a raw flour the time will increase to 45 minutes to an hour.
Once you have your nshima and relish ready you can serve as you desire. As you can see I like serving the relish on top of the nshima but alot of people will serve the nshima on the side and use it as a scooping device instead of utensils.
I implore you to try this recipe…it is one of the most delicious dishes you will ever try. Recipe and instructions below. Enjoy!!
