Mutton and Cabbage Curry Recipe

Sour Porridge is a ‘gruel’ made from fermented maize  ̶  typified as a liquidy food without character. While most cereal gruels  ̶  in history have often been associated with poverty (by those not consuming it), for the rest it has been a staple source of nourishment from Aztec to Greek and even modern cultures in times of harsh realities. In the South African Indian context this maize gruel was a fundamental source of nourishment for early Indentured Indians.


Not to be confused with traditional African fermented drinks like imbila, incwancwa or mahewu  ̶  all of which contain sorghum as a fermentation agent  ̶  the  South African Indian sour porridge is made solely from fermented maize cooked in hot water. It can be likened to the East Indian drink neeragaram  ̶  made from fermented rice, known to serve as a thirst quencher. Perhaps this is the recipe the early Indentured Indians were trying to replicate.


Sour porridge is complimented by sour milk and finely chopped shallots and is best served with vinegar chilies. Apart from nourishment sour porridge is also the key component in ‘porridge prayers’ conducted by Tamil South Africans during the period July- August.

Amma’s Sour Porridge Recipe

In our home sour porridge was my father’s staple breakfast ̶ a glass of warm sour porridge, vinegar chilies and Amma’s chutney. In his words an appropriate meal for a man who ‘wears heavy boots and an overall to work’.


When making sour porridge the maize should be fermented at least 5 days – a week prior to cooking the sour porridge.

Naan Khatai is an Indian Shortbread often made with flour and a combination of semolina or gram flour or rice flour and spiced with cardamom. Much like shortbread Naan Khatai also relies on  butter or Ghee as the binding agent. The result is soft crumby textured biscuit,much like custard biscuits. Naan Khatai is usually shaped round then finished with slivered almonds or pistachios.

Puli Rice (Puli Sadham, Tamarand Rice)-is rice that has been infused in a tamarind sauce- made with cumin, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, red chillies and onions simmered in Ghee. Amma usually made Puli Rice for lunch or if she had extra rice left over from the day before. Since Puli Rice is often made with precooked rice it is a great way to give new life to left over rice. Tamarind has a sour taste-though it is an acquired taste-it is best used in a small dose when making Puli Sadham. 

If you have read my previous post about Butternut Lentil Burgers you will know that I am in the process of cooking my way through an excess supply of butternut. I’ve now managed to store most in the freezer. This reminds me of Amma, whenever she had extra vegetables or after harvesting them from the back garden she would prepare them by pealing, shelling then chopping vegetables into tidy pieces for storage in the freezer. We used to have a chest freezer for that purpose. Unfortunately I don't have a lush vegetable garden like Amma used to so a combination fridge freezer serves me well.

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