Carrot and Mielie Meal Bread is a traditional Zimbabwean recipe for a classic cornbread-style loaf enriched with eggs and sweetened with carrots that's a traditional accompaniment. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Zimbabwean version of: Carrot and Mielie Meal Bread.
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Mielie is the Southern African name for the hard, white, form of maize that is ground into meal and flour and forms the staple component of the diet in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Mielies were introduced to Africa by the Portuguese probably in the early 16th century and in the intervening centuries they have supplanted the native staples of millet and sorghum as the cornerstone of the African diet.
This interesting form of cornbread comes from Zimbabwe. It is sweetened with fruit or vegetables, typically carrots or the local green squash. Polenta meal can be substituted, but does not exactly have the same taste or appearance.
This recipe, in reality is for a cake that is half way between carrot cake and cornbread.
Ingredients:
150g carrots, grated
300g mielie meal (ground white maize meal, available from African stores and large supermarkets)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
180ml boiling water
2 eggs, separated
Method:
Combine the mielie meal in a pan with 450ml water. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes together as a thick porridge. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.
Combine the egg whites with a pinch of salt in a clean and dry bowl and beat until stiff. In the meantime, mix the carrots, mielie porridge, parsley, oil, sugar and salt with the boiling water. Lightly beat the egg yolks and add to the mixture. Fold in the egg whites with a metal spoon until just combined then pour the batter into a greased and floured cake tin.
Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake emerges cleanly.
Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.
