Homemade Akamu (Pap, Ogi, Corn Porridge) – thick, creamy, and silky smooth breakfast porridge made from fresh corn. A healthier alternative to your usual oatmeal. Best served as it is or with any doughy sides.
It’s uncharacteristically cold here, in Los Angeles, these days. I’m not all that ready for the chill of winter. I don’t think I will ever be ready. I will be spending a lot of days indoors, so my sister-in-law is whipping up some akamu (from scratch) also known as pap or ogi and I am going to watch her do it. She tells me she got this… who am I to disagree?
It will take a couple of days for it to come together though, but it worth it. She wants to make it with both fresh and dry corn. It takes better with fresh corn, she says. To be honest, I have never tasted pap with fresh corn – stay tuned. 
Akamu is a breakfast porridge that is very common in most African countries. What name you call these creamy, corn porridge, depends on what part of Africa you live in. In Nigeria and Cameroon; it is named pap, Akamu, or Ogi. In South Africa, and Ghana it is disguised as porridge, Millie pap or koko. 
In this recipe, corn is left to soak for a couple of days till tender, then it is finely ground in a food processor, passed through a sieve and left outside to ferment and voila –Akamu. 
So after trying both fresh and dry corn, I would say fresh corn tastes really good however, it does not yield enough pap to feed everyone (We used Fresh American Corn which is very different from African fresh corn -10 ears of corn only yield about 1 -2 cups of pap and labor-intensive – am out! Unless she makes it. Enjoy this corn porridge with puff-puff, akara, bread, or perfect on its own.
Watch How To Make It
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Homemade Akamu (Pap, Ogi, Corn Porridge)
Ingredients
- 10 corn on the cob
- water for soaking
- water for simmering
- sugar or milk to taste
Instructions
- Place dry peeled corn in a bowl, cracked corn is preferable - will take a shorter time to become tender.
- Soak corn in lots of water, for about 4-5 days until tender (depending on the corn used ). This corn only took 3 days before it was ready to go.
- Blend corn in a heavy-duty blender into a fine smooth consistency.
- Sieve corn to remove any corn chaff; usually peeled corn has very little.
- Let it sit outside for about 3 days. This is to help the corn achieve the distinctive sour taste associated with pap. (It is ok to have bubbles on top).
- Be sure to drain the water daily – the smell is not too pleasant.
- After draining the water, you will have a very thick akamu mixture. At this point, the pap is ready to be cooked.
- However, you may further drain the akamu using a cheesecloth or muslin bag. Tie in a tight bundle and let it sit until all the water runs out. It will come together and firm up. Cut it up.
- Wrap in plastic and store in the fridge.
- When ready to use, place akamu in water and simmer for about 3-5 minutes or until it thickens up.
- Adjust for thickness with water. Add sugar and or milk. Serve warm.
Tips & Notes:
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Place dry peeled corn in a bowl, cracked corn is preferable- will take a shorter time to become tender. 
Soak corn in lots of water , for about 4-5 days until tender-(depending on the corn used ) . This corn only took 3 days before it was ready to go. 
Blend corn in a heavy duty blender into a fine smooth consistency. 
Like this ! 
Sieve corn to remove any corn chaff usually peeled corn has very little . 
Let it sit outside for about 3 days . This is to help the corn achieve the distinctive sour taste associated with pap. 
(It is ok to have bubbles on top) 
Be sure to drain the water daily – the smell is not too pleasant. 
After draining the water you will have a very thick akamu mixture. At this point the pap is ready to be cooked. 
However, you may further drain the akamu using a cheese cloth or muslin bag. Tie in a tight bundle and let it sit until all the water runs out . 
It will come together and firm up. 
Cut it up. 
Wrap in plastic and store in the fridge . 
When ready to use place akamu in water and simmer for about 3-5 minutes , until it thickens up. 
Adjust for thickness with water . Add sugar and or milk . Serve warm .
Bello umi says
Exactly how my mum used to make it back then
I love this recipe and I’m going to give it a try
Thank you for sharing…
Ifunanya Okeke says
Exactly how I and my grandma does it then
Mrs Sarah Ijeh says
Thanks for sharing!
I use millet,yellow corn ,wheat ,guinea corn and white guinea corn for mine.I soaked it for 3 days,after 3 days I blended everything.I used my new extra pillow case cloth to do the sieving,after the sieving I covered it to ferment.My question now is,the shaft I got out of this is so much,why is it so?I did the sieving just last night and up till now it has not really fermented well,the fermentation is very slow,what can I do to make it faster?
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Mrs Sarah! It really depends on the type of corn that you will use to make the pap, usually peeled corn leaves less chaff when making this. About the fermentation, you really need to let it sit steadily to help it ferment faster.
Mrs Favour from Nigeria says
Thanks so much for this information I really appreciate
Immaculate Bites says
Thank you 🙂
Priscilla says
Thanks.
The recipes are essential.
Thanks madam.
ImmaculateBites says
Thank you, Priscilla :)!
Yinka says
Can u mix soya bean with corn and grind to make a corn-soya mixture as pap
ImmaculateBites says
Sorry, I would have to experiment with soya bean in order to come up with a definite answer.
Toni says
Thanks for this recipe!! I am wondering if I can store it in the freezer instead of the fridge after cutting it up and putting in an air tight container? Is this the same if I use millet instead of corn?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes you can store in the the freezer. As for the millet I can’t say for sure .
Jacqui says
This looks delicious but I am not ready to try this from scratch. Is there another recipe that starts with the oapbready to cook? I’m not lazy, just busy.
Lyn says
In Ghana, this is not called Koko. Well in my language, this is called Mpampa. There’s Hausa Koko which is from the Hausa people of Ghana and this is not Koko.
Eddie says
There is Koko in ghana that isn’t Hausa and this is close to it..
Nkiru says
Hi can I use this muslin bag. https://www.jumia.com.ng/universal-100-cotton-gauze-muslin-cheesecloth-2.8×0.95-m-for-cheese-cloth-soft-absorben-new-10869339.html
I noticed you let it strain by itself on the bag without using your hand like it is done locally.
Does it achieve the same result
ImmaculateBites says
It does, but I usually squeeze at the end to make it really dry. Just like the ones being sold at the markets. Yes muslin bags work just fine.
Faith Y says
Appart from ginger what else can I add to the pap
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Faith! I really haven’t tried ginger in my pap yet. I usually have it plain or with condensed milk :).
Mark says
I love this thank you all , but major problem here is how to process the dry pap or akamu this is serious.
ImmaculateBites says
Am clueless maybe someone can help. Thanks!
jum says
Is it possible to get dried pap flour (as in powdered pap like custerd) from maize? so that if i want to meke pap, i will just mix with little water and make pap, If it’s possible, please can one tell me the procedure?
ThankGod Roseline says
Yes …..by sun-drying and after sun-drying, you blend with a dry blender to have that smooth powder form
immaculate says
Nice job my namesake. You can add half fried groundnuts,ginger n cloves for a better taste n flavor.try it n thank me later.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to share this Namesake!!!
Emmanuel says
Wow! I love this, Kudos to you all… My mom is very good at doing this, she has been doing this since I was born and she is very good at it… I sat down and was thinking yesterday about what she can do because she’s doing nothing for now, I asked someone if there is a preservative chemical for raw pap after the processing, he was not sure and same as me, I want her to start the business and I want her to have a brand of her own and if possible export to other countries… is there anyone who can help with needed and helpful information.
Thanks
ImmaculateBites says
I don’t know of any preservative but am sure there are preservatives out there. You just have to keep searching and you’ll find it .
Luliu says
Love this. Thanks for sharing.
Betty says
Do I understand correctly that the soaked and ground corn is drained before placing outside to ferment for three days. How do I keep the bugs out of the mixture? Is high heat and sun a problem when fermenting the ground corn? Should I keep the bowl of ground corn in the shade or direct sunlight? Thank you very much for your answers.
ImmaculateBites says
No the corn is always soaked in water , during the fermentation process.
You only rinse and drain when ready to blend. Always cover with a lid to keep out bugs. And keep in a warm area. Direct heat helps the corn ferment quicker. hope this helps