• Chakalaka is a South African vegetable relish that is usually spicy.  A braai just feels incomplete without two of our nation’s most beloved sides, chakalaka and pap.  And it’s so easy to make, that there’s no reason to exclude it from a family gathering. Bonus points if you make them on Heritage Day! Here’s how to make chakalaka.

    SEE MORE: Thuli’s chakalaka with roosterkoek

    Chakalaka and pap

    Serves: 6
    Cooking Time: 1 hr 30 mins

    Ingredients

    • Chakalaka

    • 1 onion, chopped
    • 2 carrots, roughly grated
    • 3 tomatoes, chopped
    • 15ml (1 tbsp) curry powder
    • ¼ cabbage, sliced
    • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
    • 1 x 410g tin red beans or
    • baked beans
    • sugar, to taste
    • Pap

    • 500ml (2 cups) water
    • 480g maize meal
    • salt, to taste
    • knob of butter, to serve

    Instructions

    1

    How to make chakalaka:

    In a saucepan over medium heat, fry the onion, carrots, tomatoes and curry powder together, for 5 minutes.

    2

    Add the cabbage and season to taste, adding some cayenne pepper if you like it strong.

    3

    Stir in the beans, cover the saucepan and cook over low heat, for 30 minutes.

    4

    Taste at the end and adjust with a bit of sugar if it is too acidic.

    5

    Pap:

    Boil the water in a saucepan, then add the maize meal and some salt.

    6

    Stir until combined, cover and cook over low heat, for 45 minutes, stirring every now and then.

    7

    Stir in the knob of butter when the pap is ready.

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