Variation · maize
Maize pot
Half chickpeas, half pounded yellow maize. Thicker and more golden, almost a Sabbath porridge.
- 6 servings
- 1 h prep
- 16 h in the oven
You'll need
- 1 kg beef or mutton, in cubes
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 3 onions, sliced
- 300 g cooked chickpeas
- 150 g cracked yellow maize (xerém), soaked overnight
- 700 ml water, and salt
- 150 g plain flour + water, to seal
Spices
- 1½ tsp black peppercorns
- 1½ tsp coriander seed
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 cm fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cm cinnamon stick and 1–2 cloves
How to make it
- Thursday night, soak the maize and the dried chickpeas, in separate bowls, in plenty of water.
- Friday morning, the maize. Drain, cover with fresh water and simmer for 45–60 minutes, until soft but still whole. Drain and pound roughly in a mortar or pulse briefly in a processor: it should be broken, not mush. Cook the chickpeas at the same time, until they crush easily.
- Friday afternoon, the pot. Pound the spices. Cook the onions in the oil over medium-low heat for 15–20 minutes, until golden. Turn up the heat, brown the meat in two batches, add the spices and stir 1 minute.
- Bring it together. In go the chickpeas (half mashed), the maize, 1 tsp salt and the water. Maize drinks more liquid than chickpeas, so this takes almost twice the water of the main recipe.
- Seal and bake. Seal the lid with a rope of flour-and-water dough and, before sundown, put it in an oven preheated to 100–110 °C.
- Saturday at noon, break the seal and stir. It should be thick and creamy, like a golden porridge. If it's dried out, stir in a little hot water.
The story behind it
In 1587 Gabriel Soares de Sousa wrote that maize “quebrado e pizado na pilão é bom para se cozer com caldo de carne”, cracked and pounded, it's good cooked in meat broth. It isn't in Branca's trial, but it grew in her land.