Mieliepap Bolletjies (Porridge Balls)
Mieliepap Bolletjies
Pap is more than a staple — it's a ritual at braais and Sunday tables. The warm, filling base that soaks up rich gravies, carries spicy chakalaka, or softens into a sweet breakfast with milk and cinnamon. Affordable, versatile and deeply familiar, pap is the culinary equivalent of a family hug: simple, sustaining and always ready to bring people together.
Ingredients
- 250 g maize meal (IWISA or similar)
- Pinch of salt
- 375 ml cold water plus 750 ml (3 cups) hot water
- 12 strips of bacon
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 1 green pepper, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 egg, beaten
- 0.5 tsp chilli
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 125 g golden breadcrumbs
- Oil for frying
- 1 extra egg, beaten (for coating)
Method
- Mix maize meal and salt with 375 ml cold water, then add 3 cups hot water. Cook until done to make a stiff consistency. This is the pap.
- Fry bacon until crisp.
- Sauté onion, pepper and garlic until soft.
- Add the sautéed vegetables to the bacon, then mix into the pap.
- Add the beaten egg, chilli, salt and parsley; combine well.
- Shape into balls, dip in beaten egg, then coat in breadcrumbs.
- Fry in oil until golden and drain on kitchen paper.