South African recipes: from malva pudding to milk tart

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South African recipes

South African

Baked sago pudding

45 minutes

Easter recipes

Homemade Cape Malay-style pickled fish

25 minutes, plus chilling time

Milk tart

Deep-fried milk tart

20 minutes

Cheat recipes

Hertzoggie tarts

20 minutes

Mielie recipes

Giant sweetcorn dombolo

1 hour

South African

Abi’s ultimate pampoenkoekies

1 hour (or less if you microwave the pumpkin)

Braai recipes

Next-level lamb braai

25 minutes

Braai recipes

Braaied mielies three ways

25 minutes

Bacon recipes

Alfredo pasta with a South African twist

15 minutes

South African

Amagwinya with sweetcorn-and-cheese filling

20 minutes

South African

Mini amagwinya with grilled plums

20 minutes

Maize meal

Grilled bacon mieliepap cakes

20 minutes

Grilled bacon mieliepap cakes

Serves 4

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cooking Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 litre cold water
1 T chicken stock powder
salt, a pinch
200 g maize meal
250 g bacon rashers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T parsley, chopped
2 T coriander, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the toppings:

2 T harissa paste
100 g cream cheese
roasted vine tomatoes
4 T Woolworths jalapeño atchar
caperberries, for serving
Woolworths sliced jalapeños, for serving

Method

In a saucepan, mix the water, chicken stock powder and salt and bring to the boil. Whisk in the maize meal, adding a little at a time, whisking continually to prevent lumps from forming.
Stir using a wooden spoon, mashing the pap against the sides of the saucepan to prevent lumps from forming. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Stir again and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until cooked.
Dry fry the bacon in a large, non-stick pan until crispy, then set aside. Using the rendered bacon fat, sauté the onion and garlic for 3–4 minutes. Add the herbs and stir. Add the herbed onion mixture and crispy bacon to the pap and knead well to combine.
Transfer to a baking tray and press into the tray evenly. Cut into rounds using cookie cutters and brush each cake with melted butter.
Heat a nonstick pan and grill the pap cakes for 2–3 minutes on each side until they form a crust or until they’re golden.
Stir the harissa into the cream cheese and serve with the pap cakes and remaining toppings.
Siba’s tip: The pap forms a hard, tortilla-like shell when cooked and will leave the pan clean underneath once removed. As kids, we used to add jam and eat it as a snack.

I grew up eating maize meal. We ate this staple in the same way most of the time, but now I add my own Sibalicious twists, including bacon, chilli and cream cheese.

Buy the ingredients here.

Browse more South African recipes here.

Spinach lasagne

Apple, honey and almond cake

Chicken in tomato sauce

Baked sago pudding

Homemade Cape Malay-style pickled fish

Deep-fried milk tart

Hertzoggie tarts

Giant sweetcorn dombolo

Abi’s ultimate pampoenkoekies

Next-level lamb braai

Braaied mielies three ways

Alfredo pasta with a South African twist

Amagwinya with sweetcorn-and-cheese filling

Mini amagwinya with grilled plums

Grilled bacon mieliepap cakes

Grilled bacon mieliepap cakes

Ingredients

Method