Bobotie

Pronounced somewhere between “ba-boo-eh-tea” & "buh-booty" is a Cape Malay adaptation of a recipe of which the origin is a point of contention but be that as it may it is just fantastic and a staple in almost every Afrikaans/South African home. Although the ingredients are very basic and for the most part the same in all the recipes, each cook obviously makes their own interpretation of it.

I was still at school when my mom started collecting trousseau on my behalf because it was the last thing on my mind and even in the 80's it was an old fashioned thing to do, thank goodness she did!! Dankie ma!! Besides the pots and spoons and lappies and shits she collected on my behalf, she bought me two recipe books;

Huigenoot wenresepte 2 & 3. When I got married I could basically make a sarmie and a cup of coffee but with the help of these two books I started enjoying cooking for us. Everything I made for the first few years of our married life came out of these two and one or two other recipe books, it was between the pages of these recipe books I learnt the basics of cooking and my absolute adoration of the skill, the ingredients and the processes of making food started.

I usually make a recipe once exactly as it's written but there after it's my interpretation of it but this recipe is one of only a handful that I haven't veered from and I've been making it for almost 36 years exactly as tannie Isabel tells me to. You can tell by the state of the page that it's been well used!

Whenever I eat Bobotie I taste history and Afrikanerdom, and heritage and pride.. It really is one of those nostalgic dishes that I will cherish and make with pride for as long as I am able to cook.

The recipe and process is basic and easy, just get all the stuff together before you start preparing and it will be ready for the oven in minutes. The nice thing about it is that you can prepare it up to the point that its ready for the oven and only once you're ready, you pop in into the oven and bake it until it's set and smells like delicious homeyness. If you make it for guests, pop it int he oven as soon as they arrive and it will be ready to serve piping hot once everyone is ready to eat.

Here's how it goes:

Get your groups ready (group B, top right, looks iffy but trust me, this concoction makes it delicious and soft)

Fry the onions until soft and starting to turn translucent

add group A (spices) and fry until dry and fragrant

Add the ground beef and fry until the beef is brown

Add the iffy looking concoction

Top with the last group of stuff

Top with Lemon or Bay leaves - I prefer lemon leaves but both are good

bake to golden yummness

serve with yellow rice and chutney and/or salad

Here's the recipe:

This is enough for 6 - 8 people

Ingredients:

Group A

30ml Ground Ginger

30ml Brown sugar

30ml Mild curry powder

30ml Tumeric

10ml Salt

5ml Pepper

3-4 medium sized Onions

Oil for frying

Group B

2 slices white bread (just regular bread)

80ml Chutney (I use Mrs. Balls or Wellingtons)

30ml smooth Apricon jam

30ml Vinegar

30ml Worcestershire sauce

30ml Tomato Paste

1kg ground Beef

Group C

375ml Milk

2 Eggs

lemon or bay leaves

Method:

Chop the onions into 1cm dice.

Soak the Bread in a bit of water so moisten it and squeeze out all the excess water and add the rest of group B ingredients to it.

Gather all the ingredients for group A as I did in the photographs.

In a large heavy bottom pot add the oil and fry the onions on high'ish heat unill just soft and translucent.

Add the rest of the group A ingredients (the spices) and stir to combine and cook the rawness out of the spices. The mixture will be dry and smell fragrant. Take care not to burn the spices.

Add the ground beef and stir to mix, keep stirring until the meat is evenly browned. Check for seasoning and add salt. (over-salt just a tad because you are adding the milk/egg mixture)

Add all the ingredients of group B (the wet stuff) and stir to thoroughly combine. I usually leave it in the pot because it's big enough and I'm to lazy to wash more dishes but the whole shebang is usually dished into an oven proof dish.

Combine the ingredients of Group C and beat until the eggs are incorporated. Pour over the meat mixture. I usually take a big spoon and push it into the meat to allow the milky custardy mixture so seep into the meat mixture until you are left with a thin layer covering the top.

Once you are ready to bake the bobotie push the fresh leaves into the mixture

Bake at 180˚C for 45 minutes to one hour until the sides are brown and the 'custard' set

Remove the leaves and serve piping hot over yellow rice.

To make the rice; season as you usually do and add at least a table spoon of turmeric and cook as you usually would. Because it is a sweetish dish, the bitterness of the turmeric is a nice contrast. Some people add raisins to the rice but it's just to sweet for my taste.

Serve with chutney and a small tomato and onion salad.