Howdy folks! 😊

It is with great pride that I present to you this recipe for Nshima 😊 – Zambia’s staple meal. Normally eaten with an assortment of ‘Relish’ … though the standard meal is usually complete with a Protein and Vegetable dish – like Beef stew, and fried cabbage.

There’s also many different variations of Nshima, e.g Nshima cooked with Cassava meal, Ground Millet or even Sorghum. However, the majority in these parts tend to use Maize/Cornmeal which is more readily available.

Nshima is widely eaten in much of Sub-Saharan Africa actually, where it is known by different names in different countries e.g Ugali (Uganda), Sadza (Zimbabwe), Tuwo (Nigeria), Pap (South Africa) etc, but maintaining the same goodness 😊

For the curious and uninitiated, here’s the recipe below for you to try. Let me know how it goes 😉

Nshima

Recipe by LubayaCourse: MainDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Cuisine

Zambian

Ingredients

3 cups of Mealie Meal/ White Cornmeal
1 Litre Boiling water
1 1/2 cups Cold Water

Directions

Boil 1 Litre of water in advance, in a Kettle or Sauce pan.
Once the water boils, combine 1 cup of Cornmeal or Mealie Meal as we call it, with 1 1/2 cups of cold water in a sauce pan, to make a smooth paste. A flat cooking stick is ideal for this.
Transfer the Cornmeal paste to the stove (set at medium high heat), and then slowly pour about 700ml of boiling water into the saucepan, stirring continuously, making sure the mixture is smooth and well combined.
This should lead to a smooth porridge, almost creamy. Allow this to boil for at least 10 minutes, covered.
Remove the cover after 10 minutes and begin to add the remaining Cornmeal to the porridge, a little at a time, making sure it is well combined, before adding some more.
The porridge should stiffen up quickly with each addition of Cornmeal, and you will need to exert a bit of muscle to mix this well, smoothing out any lumps that form in the process 😉
Once fully combined, cover the pot with a well fitting lid and allow to cook for another 10 minutes. Lift the lid after the first 5 minutes and mix through the Nshima again before replacing the lid, for the remaining five minutes.
Remove from the stove after the 10 minutes, and using a smooth serving spoon, scoop out the Nshima, one lump at a time and transfer into your serving dish.
Should turn out like this, when ready to serve.
Had my Nshima with this plate of Beef offal, and two Veggie dishes. Died and went to heaven 🤩
Enjoy! 😋