Pap Or Sadza Or Ugali Or ... - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups cornmeal (preferably finely ground and white)

Preparation

Bring water and salt to a boil in a large pot. When it boils, add the cornmeal all in one go, mix, cover and cook undisturbed over very gentle heat for about 30 - 60 minutes.
That is the method a black lady I know always used (although she didn't measure a thing, but neither do I, when I make pap).
It gets to be easy after a few times, just pouring a small stream of cornmeal into the boiling water and stirring. You know when the consistency will be to your liking.
I find it easier, and safer for the final smoothness, to stir or whisk while I pour in the dry cornmeal.
(Cornmeal in Africa is known as maize meal or mealie meal. White cornmeal is preferred by African peoples, and it's a bad year for corn when producers have to add yellow corn to the white in order to produce enough of the product for the market).
As pap is bland and merely a vehichle for other tastes, it is always eaten with a savory soup or stew or sauce. A favourite meal among Black and White alike is pap with tomato-and-onion sauce, with grilled meats alongside. But where the eaters have to make do with little, a sauce or soupy stew will suffice.