The Seychellois Corn Meal Pudding- Lafarin Mai– is cooked with full cream milk as well as sweetened condensed milk, infused with coconut milk, and flavoured with nutmeg and vanilla.
This dessert, known in Seychelles simply as lafarin mai and at times poudin lafarin mai, is dense, sweet, soft, moist and very filling. It is the perfect dessert after a spicy curry or eaten chilled with afternoon tea.
Mai derives from the French word ‘maïs’ meaning corn or maize. In Creole it is written without the ‘ ïs’ but is pronounced the same way.
Seychellois Corn Meal Pudding is a popular dessert
In Seychelles, the cornmeal pudding is a very popular dessert that is enjoyed all year round, but it was especially popular during the holidays. I remember as a child looking forward to being given a slice of the cornmeal pudding at Easter time.
It is also a very popular dish worldwide, but most of them, especially those for the Caribbean, known as ‘cornmeal pone’, are baked. The Seychellois pudding is cooked on the stove on very low heat and never baked. Furthermore, although dried fruits can be added, the traditional corn meal pudding has only corn meal as the main ingredient.
Do I use corn meal, polenta, corn flour or corn starch for this dish?
You can easily buy the wrong base ingredient to cook this dessert because there is quite a bit on confusion around maize, corn, corn meal, corn flour, corn starch and polenta. I will try and bring some clarity to the confusion.
Maize or corn?
Let us first look at maize and corn. For culinary purposes, maize and corn is the same thing and is meant for the plant that produces kernels used for cooking depending where you live. The word maize is frequent in nations like New Zealand, Canada, and the United States whereas corn is frequent in European nations. However, the term corn is preferred over maize for food products that are made from it, such as corn flour, corn starch, cornmeal etc.
What is corn meal?
In this recipe, we refer to corn meal as the main ingredient. So, what exactly is corn meal? Cornmeal is a flour ground from dried maize or corn. It is is ground to fine, medium, and coarse consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour. The oily, protein-rich germ is not removed so maximum nutrition is retained. The most popular grind is the coarse one and this is what we use for this recipe.
But what is Polenta?
Traditionally, Polenta is a dish of boiled cornmeal. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled. However, you will often see cornmeal sold as polenta, especially if you are buying an Italian product, as shown on the photo below.
But what’s the difference between corn flour and corn starch?
Both corn flour and cornstarch are made from corn. Corn flour is the result of grinding entire corn kernels into a fine powder. Therefore, it contains protein, fiber, starch, and the vitamins and minerals found in whole corn. On the other hand, cornstarch is more refined and made by removing the protein and fiber of the corn kernel, leaving only the starchy center called the endosperm. This is then processed into a white powder.
Corn Meal Pudding in the Indian Ocean
In Mauritius, corn meal pudding is called ‘poudine maïs’ and although cooked on the stove it contains different ingredients. It is dessert made from corn meal in which milk, sugar, dried sultanas and cardamon powder are cooked together. The cooked paste is poured on a tray and coconut powder is sprinkled thereon and left to cool.
Sweetening the pudding
Traditionally, this corn meal porridge is sweetened with condensed milk which adds an amazing creamy texture and taste to the pudding, so it’s a must-try. However, if you do not like sweetened condensed milk, you may decide to use white sugar or even honey, if you wish.
Fresh Coconut Milk vs. Canned Coconut Milk
The coconut milk brings richness to this recipe. The taste is much more superior when fresh coconut milk is used to when canned coconut milk is used. I am not here to say that a canned coconut milk can’t be used for this recipe, yes it can, but if you do have the opportunity to make your own fresh coconut milk, then go for it. If you are going to use canned milk use full-fat coconut milk. Cornmeal pudding is a rich dessert that’s full of flavour so coconut milk that is not watered down is best.
Why cook that much?
When we cook lafarin mai we cook quite a bit because we have some many orders from friends, children and acquaintances. This recipe will give you about 24 slices or portions. You can reduce the amount of ingredients proportionately if you wish to have less portions.
Variations to the recipe
This recipe is the traditional pudding. However, nothing stops you from being creative by adding ingredients like currants soaked in brandy, dried fruits,….
Here is the Recipe for Corn Meal Pudding- Lafarin Mai
The Corn Meal Pudding- Lafarin Mai– is cooked with full cream milk as well as sweetened condensed milk, infused with coconut milk, and flavoured with nutmeg and vanilla.
- 500 g corn meal
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 1.5 lt full cream milk
- 1 tin sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
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In a large pot, place the corn meal and the coconut milk and stir to fully combine.
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Add the condensed milk, vanilla essence, salt, nutmeg thoroughly mix.
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Place the pot over medium heat and bring to boil.
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Reduce heat to low and gradually add milk and stir continuously. It is critical that you stir continuously to avoid any lumps forming in your pudding,. If you stop stirring you may also end up with a burnt pudding.
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Continue to cook until the mixture has thickened and starts to release steam. By then the texture would have turned into a paste-like consistency.
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Remove from heat and pour into a 20 x 25 cm glass or ceramic dish and allow to cool. You should not need to oil the dish.
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Gently tap the dish on the kitchen counter a couple of times to get rid of trapped bubbles.
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Even out the surface with spatula or spoon and allow to cool.
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Allow the mixture to come to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes or until set.
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To serve, cut into slices, squares, or diamonds and serve cold or at room temperature.
When we cook lafarin mai we cook quite a bit because we have so many orders from friends, children and acquaintances. This recipe will give you about 24 slices or portions. You can reduce the amount of ingredients proportionately if you wish to have less portions.
This recipe is the traditional pudding. However, nothing stops you from being creative by adding ingredients like currants soaked in brandy, dried fruits, etc.
Did you make this recipe?
I hope you will enjoy cooking this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.
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