Krummelpap

We should probably start this post by trying to explain what ‘krummelpap’ is.

  • ‘Pap’ – a porridge made from maize (corn) meal – is the staple food of Southern Africa. Krummelpap, which means ‘crumbly porridge’, is a traditional South African dish made with very little water, giving it the familiar dry and crumbly texture. Krummelpap can also be called Phuthu Pap (sometimes spelled ‘putu’).

Important ingredient:

You need real ‘braaipap’ (maize meal) to make krummelpap. We’re not sure if there is a substitute for ‘braaipap’ – the closest to this is probably polenta. And the ideal pot for krummelpap is a cast iron ‘potjie’ (pronounced poy-key) or Dutch oven. You can make it on the stove or on the fire. We made ours on the stove, but the sauce and steak were prepared outside on the fire.

All you need for krummelpap: Braaipap, salt, boiling water and a ‘potjie’

How to enjoy your krummelpap:

Krummelpap is usually served with a tomato and onion sauce and then we ’braai’ (barbecue) South African ‘boerewors’ (sausage) to eat with the krummelpap. However, in today’s post, we couldn’t resist the steak we bought earlier at the butcher and we enjoyed this with our krummelpap.

Put it on the table:

You already know which ingredients to use for the krummelpap, but let’s share the sauce ingredients and quantities of everything:

Krummelpap:

500g braaipap (maize meal), 2 – 3cm from sides of pot

1/3 of pot boiling water

1 teaspoon salt

Sauce ingredients

Sauce:

1 onion

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

4 tablespoons chutney

1 can chopped and peeled tomatoes

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Oil (to fry onion)

Let’s start with the krummelpap. Pour the boiling water into the ‘potjie’ and add salt. Wait until it starts to boil again and then slowly pour the maize meal into the middle of the ‘potjie’ and leave in a heap. DO NOT stir at this point, just cover the ‘potjie’ and cook/steam slowly (on low heat) for 20 minutes.

When the water in the ‘potjie’ starts to boil, add the maize meal

While the krummelpap is steaming on the stove, now is the perfect time to make a fire outside.

The fire is lit

After 20 minutes it is time to open the ‘potjie’ for the first time. Now use a fork to work the ‘pap’ (porridge) into crumbs. It’s now that the dish becomes crumbly and turns into krummelpap. The krummelpap should cook for a further 20 minutes (with the pot covered). However, stir every 5 minutes to get some of the crumbs at the bottom.

Stir every 5 minutes to get crumbs in the krummelpap

The sauce is very easy. Fry the onions in a little oil until soft. Add the can of tomatoes and then the rest of the ingredients. Stir it together and let it cook on the fire until thick.

(This is a very versatile sauce and we love making it for our hot dogs too.)

For the sauce, fry the onions until soft

Add the can of tomatoes and then the other ingredients

By this time the krummelpap will be cooked. We keep it (covered) on the stove on a very low heat and stir it every now and then until the steak is ready and we can serve.

This is what the krummelpap looks like when it’s cooked

The steak is seasoned and ready for the fire

While the steak was getting ready, we kept the sauce aside to keep warm

Now it’s time to serve. Berto likes his steak rare, while I prefer mine to be medium. We poured a pepper sauce over the steak and served the krummelpap with the tomato sauce. What a wonderful combination this is!

Krummelpap and sauce

Steak and krummelpap

Krummelpap the next morning:

We always make enough krummelpap so that there is left over for breakfast the next morning. Berto likes his krummelpap with lots of butter and sugar (he calls it ‘yellow porridge’). Me again, like krummelpap with hot milk and sugar. Any way you eat it, it’s delicious!

Krummelpap for breakfast