Siphuphe — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Thick maize porridge cooked down into a rich, smooth stew often served with sour milk or meat relish. The Swazi everyday staple.

Ingredients

500g beef stew meat, cut into 3cm cubes
2 cups fresh or frozen spinach, roughly chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup cooked or canned chickpeas, drained
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups beef broth or water
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooked maize meal (pap) for serving

Instructions

1 Season the beef cubes with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, and coriander. Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in batches for six minutes, turning to sear all sides until a deep caramelized crust forms. Avoid crowding the pot so the meat sears rather than steams.
2 Remove the browned beef and reduce heat to medium. Add the diced onion and cook for five minutes until softened. Add the minced garlic and cayenne pepper, stirring for one minute until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly, until it darkens and becomes aromatic.
3 Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for five minutes until they collapse into a thick sauce. Return the browned beef to the pot along with the beef broth. Stir well, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer gently for one and a half hours until the beef is fork-tender.
4 Add the drained chickpeas to the stew and cook for ten minutes to allow them to absorb the flavours of the sauce. The chickpeas add heartiness and protein to the stew while maintaining a pleasant texture contrast to the tender braised beef.
5 Add the chopped spinach to the pot, stirring it into the stew. Cook for five minutes until the spinach wilts completely and turns dark green. The spinach adds essential nutrients and a subtle earthy flavour that balances the richness of the braised beef and tomato sauce.
6 Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. The stew should be thick and rich with tender beef, creamy chickpeas, and wilted spinach in a deeply flavoured tomato sauce. Serve in deep bowls over a generous mound of cooked maize meal, allowing the stew juices to soak into the pap.