I cooked sadza the fast way – and it still turned out delicious

Written by Beth

Whenever people ask me about Zimbabwean food, I always mention sadza. This traditional side dish is made from white maize (corn), Zimbabwe’s most important food crop. Many people eat it every day. There’s a version of sadza in many African countries, and names for it include: ugali, posho, nsima, papa, pap, isitshwala, and akume. In addition to cooking sadza to the right consistency, it’s important to have a flavoursome sauce or stew to accompany it.

My husband’s birthday was the perfect excuse to revisit this beloved classic. I hadn’t made sadza in over a decade, so we were apprehensive about how it would turn out. The result? Delicious!

Complete disclaimer: This is my quick twist on cooking sadza the quick way from my UK kitchen, using South African Iwisa (pap) maize meal. If you’re a sadza purist, please look away now!

Otherwise, keep reading below the video …

 

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Here’s how I brought a taste of Zimbabwe to our English dinner table. I served the sadza with nyama (meat): in this case, juicy boerewors (South African spiral sausage), a tasty relish, and mielies (corns on the cob).

Yes, I know I’m doubling up on the corn in this meal, but mielies are always a hit with my kids, and they bring back fond memories of Zimbabwe. If you need more adequate veggies, you could cook collared greens/rape/kale to go with your sadza if you prefer.

If you’d like to make this quick sadza meal yourself, check out my version of the recipe below.

Recipe for quick sadza with boerewors, relish and mielies

Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients

For the quick sadza

• 1 cup (250 ml) Iwisa maize meal – See Notes below on where to buy
• 2 cups (500 ml) boiling water
• 2 additional tablespoons maize meal

For the boerewors

• 500g Boerewors (South African sausage) – see Notes below for more info

For the relish

• 1 onion
• 2 large tomatoes
• Olive oil or butter (for frying)
• Salt and pepper

For the mielies

• Corns on the cob (1-2 per person)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon lemon & herb seasoning (or similar)

The method: bringing it all together

1. The boerewors:

We usually braai (barbecue) our boerewors, but on this day it was raining, so we grilled it. Heat the grill to maximum, and when it’s at temperature, put the boerewors on a grill rack pan and cook for around 20 mins, turning halfway through.

2. The relish:

While the boerewors cooked, I chopped up the onion and tomatoes. Heat the oil in a pan, and cook the onions on medium heat until soft. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Turn to low and leave to cook for around 10 mins.

3. The mielies:

Cook the cobs in a large pot of boiling water until tender, around 4 minutes. After draining, pop them back into the empty cooking pot with a tablespoon of butter and a generous tablespoon of lemon & herb seasoning. A quick shake with the lid closed distributes the flavours beautifully.

4. The star of the show: sadza!

I used a one-to-two ratio: 250ml cup of maize meal to 500ml of boiling water.

• Place the maize meal in a large pot and use a whisk to thoroughly mix boiling water into it, ensuring there are no lumps. (Apologies to the purists!)
• Place the pot and simmer over medium heat on the hob. Keep mixing!
• When the mixture starts to thicken, switch to a wooden spoon.
• After about 3 minutes, when it has thickened considerably, I add about two more tablespoons of maize meal. Did I say that you shouldn’t stop mixing?
• It’s ready when it reaches the consistency of thick mashed potato. For me, it took around 10 minutes in total, as the Iwisa maize meal I used was pre-cooked.

5. Plating up

Although you can simply spoon the sadza onto a plate, I like to present it differently. Prewarm and rinse an espresso cup (or a larger teacup) in boiling water. This stops the sadza sticking to it. Spoon the sadza into the cup and turn it out onto each plate, as if you’re making a sandcastle. Repeat as necessary for each plate. In the above photo, there was still plenty of sadza left in the pot for seconds.

Chop the boerewors into sections, put holders on the delicious sweetcorn.

I pouted spoonfuls of relish on top of the sadza. Traditionally, the sadza isn’t covered with the sauce, so that you can use the sadza itself to dip into the accompaniments.

We also served it with Cheeky Chilli sauce, a personal favourite of my husband’s!

Traditionally, sadza is eaten with your hands: you scoop a ball into one hand, make a small indentation in it with your thumb, and dip it in the relish or stew. However, you can use a knife and fork if you want – I won’t judge!

Notes on where to buy, etc

• Maize Meal: You can often find maize meal in the UK at online African shopping websites or by checking out international corner shops. I used the Iwisa brand from South Africa, which seemed to be pre-cooked, making the sadza incredibly quick to prepare. The smallest quantity you can buy is usually 1kg, but it is very inexpensive so doesn’t matter if you don’t use it all at once. You can also buy it on Amazon here (aff link).
  • If you’re using a maize meal that isn’t pre-cooked, and it’s taking a long time to thicken up, don’t fear! It just means it will take closer to 30 minutes to cook. Check out this recipe here which will help.
• Boerewors: Some UK butchers make boerewors, and many deliver via post. I bought mine on an African shopping website in the UK (just do a quick google). The ‘classic’ flavour is safest, but you could go for garlic, or even chilli variants. If you only have access to a mainstream supermarket, you could buy beef sausages instead.
• Lemon and herb seasoning: I bought mine from a large mainstream UK grocery store.
• Cheeky Chilli sauce: Available online in the UK, or at international corner shops. You can also buy it on Amazon here (aff link).
• Holders for corn on the cob / mielies: These make it easier to eat the corn without getting butter fingers! I bought mine from Amazon here (aff link).

What do you think? Have you tried making sadza before? I’d love to hear your experiences!

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