Preparation procedure of pap from maize

Pap is Nigerian corn meal made from wet corn starch. It is commonly known as Akamu (Igbo) or
Ogi (Yoruba). It has a distinctive sour taste that makes people crave it. It is processed from dry
white or yellow corn. After processing it we get the raw akamu/pap/ogi which is then prepared
with hot water before serving as a meal.

Requirements

 1.5kg dry corn

 Lots of water

Notes on the ingredients

 The corn must be dry. Fresh corn cannot form the right kind of starch for making
akamu/ogi/pap.
 We use yellow dry corn for making yellow akamu and white (off-white) corn for making
white akamu.
 You will need lots of water for soaking, washing and seiving the corn.

Tools

 Chiffon cloth: for separating the wet corn starch (akamu/ogi/pap) from the chaff.
 Blender: used for blending the maize
 Muslin bag: Any tightly woven cotton, calico or canvass material whose weaves do not
shift is great for this.
 Big and small bowls.

Procedures

1. Wash the dry corn thoroughly and soak in a generous quantity of cold water for 3 to 4
days. Do not refrigerate it because it is important that some kind of fermentation takes
place.
2. Wash the corn and change the water daily.
3. On the 3rd or 4th day, wash and blend till smooth. I say 3rd or 4th because some corns
become soft enough to be blended by the 3rd day. Bite into it to check, if not soak for one
 more day. Add a generous quantity of water to help your blender. In Nigeria, heavy duty
grinders are used for this purpose.
4. Drape the chiffon cloth over a big bowl and tie it up. The bowl should be big enough to
accommodate the pap and the water you'll use to rinse it and then some.
5. Sieve the blend rinsing as necessary till you are left with only the chaff. It is advisable to
rinse small quantities of the corn blend at a time so that you will not be overwhelmed.
6. When you've rinsed all the corn blend, blend the chaff and rinse again if you think you
can get more pap from it. This may be the case if you used a kitchen blender. This won't
be necessary if you used the heavy duty grinders in Nigerian markets.
7. When done, take off the chiffon cloth and set the mixture of water and pap aside to settle
for at least 3 hours.
8. After about 3 hours or when you notice that the water is clear, decant the clear water and
pour the rest of the mixture into the muslin bag.
9. Tie the bag and keep it in such a way as to let the water drain from the pap.
10. When you notice that the water has drained off, tie the bag tighter and leave to continue
draining the water. Repeat the process as the water drains till no more water drains off.
11. Tie the bag for the last time and place some weights on it to squeeze out the last trace of
water.
12. Leave it like this overnight so that the pap will have the classic sour taste. Again, do not
refrigerate it.
13. The next day, bring out the pap from the bag, cut it up into single-use chunks, place in
containers (bowls or plastic bags) and put in your freezer till you are ready to use it.