Step 1
Bring the water and salt to the boil in a heavy pot with a lid.

Phuthu pap, or krummelpap: crumbly South African maize meal porridge, served with tomato smoor, amasi or braai meat. Serves 6.
Cook along
Check ingredients as you gather them, then work through 4 calm, clearly numbered steps.
Tap each item as it reaches your counter.
4 steps · about 40 minutes total
Step 1
Bring the water and salt to the boil in a heavy pot with a lid.
Step 2
Pour the maize meal into the middle of the water in a heap. Do not stir. Cover and cook on low heat for five minutes.
Step 3
Stir with a fork or a wooden spoon, breaking up the lumps, until the meal is crumbly and all of it is damp.
Step 4
Cover and cook on low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring with the fork every five minutes, until the grains are soft and fluffy. Stir in the butter.
Before you serve
Small details for confident timing, useful swaps, and safer leftovers.
The ratio is about two parts maize meal to one part water, by volume. Add a little more water if it is too dry.
A heavy pot and low heat stop the bottom from burning.
Covered leftovers keep for two days in the fridge; steam them to reheat.
Phuthu (isiZulu) and krummelpap (Afrikaans) are names for crumbly maize meal porridge, a South African staple at braais and family meals, eaten with amasi, smoor or meat and gravy.