TheLadyEve: For anyone curious, chakalaka (spicy vegetable relish) is pretty simple to make. It’s basically stewed vegetables with beans added. [Here’s a sample recipe](https://foodsfromafrica.com/2016515african-chakalaka-recipe/). I’ve had it with or without the Scotch bonnet, this recipe uses a Scotch bonnet and I think it tastes better for it.
TheLadyEve: This is like a South African tamale.
I know they have steamed bread dumplings in South Africa, but I’m not familiar with this dish–does it have a specific name?
bjerghest: Sooo. How do i make the Chakalaka?
HypnoticSheep: /r/restofthefuckingowl
This is just a recipe for maize dough, you couldn’t take the extra couple minutes to show making the chakalaka?
-spartacus-: How again is this not an advertisement for a company?
ubccompscistudent: Looks awesome now that I know what it is. But do south africans actually call these twinkie bars? That title threw me off and I was expecting this to be a dessert and was a bit turned off as each ingredient was added.
Uncle_Retardo: *Chakalaka Twinkies*
**Ingredients:**
* 4 cups of water
* 2 tsp salt
* 2 tbsp butter
* 3 cups maize meal
* 1 cup chakalaka
* 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
* 1 egg
* 1 cup flour
* Oil, for frying
**Directions:**
1. Pour the water into a large pot, add the salt and butter and bring to the boil.
2. Slowly pour 3 cups maize meal into the pot to form a cone in the centre but don’t stir. Cover with the lid, reduce the heat to low and allow the pap to simmer for 40 minutes.
3. Once cooked, set the pap aside and allow it to cool completely.
4. Form the pap into a stick shape, flatten the pap out and place a teaspoon of chakalaka in the center with grated cheese. Close the pap over and press the stick closed.
5. Repeat the process with all of the pap.
6. Dip each maize meal stick in flour, egg and maize meal. Repeat the process again before frying the sticks in oil until golden and crispy.
7. Serve with chakalaka & chutney for dipping and ENJOY!
**Note**
* *Chakalaka* is a South African vegetable relish, usually spicy, that is traditionally served with bread, pap, samp, stews, or curries. Chakalaka may have originated in the townships of Johannesburg or on the gold mines surrounding Johannesburg, when Mozambican mineworkers coming off shift cooked tinned produce (tomatoes, beans) with chili to produce a spicy relish with a Portuguese flair to accompany pap. The many variations on how to make Chakalaka often depend on region and family tradition. Some versions include beans, cabbage and butternut. For example, a tin of baked beans, tin of tomatoes, onion, garlic, and some curry paste can be used to make the dish.
* *Maize meal* or mielie pap is a relatively coarse flour (much coarser than cornflour or cornstarch) made from maize which is known as mielies or mealies in southern Africa, from the Portuguese milho. The Portuguese had originally brought corn from the Americas to Africa.
It is a food that was originally eaten by the Voortrekkers during The Great Trek, but has become the staple diet of South Africa, because of its ability to be stored without refrigeration, it is cheap and abundant in all shops and markets. It is a staple food in South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana and many other parts of Southern Africa, traditionally made into uphuthu, sour-milk porridge, pap, and also Umqombothi (a type of beer).
The raw ingredient of mielie meel is added to boiling water, the ratio of which produces either porridge or the firmer pap/nshima/sadza. When making porridge milk it is sometimes used to produce a creamier dish, the porridge usually has a thick texture and is commonly eaten for breakfast in Southern Africa. The firmer pap is eaten with meat and gravy dishes as well as vegetable relishes. It is similar to Italian polenta or American grits except that it is usually made of a white rather than a yellow maize variety.
* *Chutney* is a savory jam. It is a fruit jam that includes savory ingredients like vinegar, mustard seed and onion.
Chutney is derived from the Hindi word “caṭnī” & Northern Indian Urdu word “chaṭnī” meaning to lick.
Simple spiced chutneys originated in India and can be traced back to around 500 BC and preserving food in this manner was adopted by the Romans. Chutneys made their way to England and France sometime in the early 1600s where they were often referred to as “mangoed” fruits and sometimes as “mangoed” vegetables. The fruit versions were much more popular. Chutney recipes flourished in the English speaking world and the Brits passed on their recipes to their colonies in early America and Australia. Indian immigrants were the ones who introduced chutneys to the Caribbean region in the 17th century. Chutney is also popular throughout Africa.
bucherman7: I want to make this with buffalo chicken and mozzarella
GajahMahout: Yup. Definitely going to try this. Mealy meal and chakalaka? Say no more, fam.
ValorVixen: wow I always thought chakalaka was a made-up word! So cool to find out that it is a delicious spicy food!
the_quassitworsh: i thought that this recipe somehow utilized twinkies and i was confused for a second because i thought you were going to make some kind of bean-twinkie hell concoction
h1ppie: Boom chakalaka!
sobieski84: Praying for the genocide of white farmers to cease
RancorHi5: Whomp! There it is !
64BbuB1aVYPt: Gross