COPPERNsima recipe
Malawi's maize staple, made from flour and water alone and built in two stages, a thin porridge first and then beaten stiff with a wooden spoon.
Ingredients
- 300 g white maize flour
- 1200 ml water
How to make Nsima
- Bring 1.2 l of water to the boil in a heavy pot.
- Sprinkle in about a third of the 300 g of white maize flour, stirring hard with a wooden spoon so that no lumps form.
- Let this thin porridge, phala, bubble 5 to 10 minutes. Skipping it leaves raw flour taste and a grainy texture.
- Add the rest of the flour a handful at a time, beating well between each addition as the mass stiffens.
- Keep beating and folding for about 10 minutes over medium heat until it pulls away from the sides of the pot and looks glossy.
- Dip a serving spoon in water and scoop out portions, rolling each into a smooth mound on the plate.
- Serve hot with ndiwo. No salt goes into nsima, the seasoning belongs to the relish.
What is Nsima?
Nsima is a traditional dish from Malawi, boiled, and takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. It is built around white maize flour. The recipe below uses 2 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Nsima take?
At 30 minutes it is quicker than 97% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 2 dishes built on white maize flour. The method runs to 7 steps, the longest being 10 minutes.
Any tips for making Nsima?
Let the thin first porridge bubble before adding the rest of the flour: skipping that stage leaves a raw flour taste and a grainy texture.
How Nsima compares
At 30 minutes, Nsima is among the 20 quickest of the 586 dishes Copper documents. White maize flour appears in no other dish in the atlas.
Copper documents Malawi alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.