(Photo: www.thecnj.com)
OOHHHH oohh Bobotie!
None of you have had a proper good, wholesome meal until you’ve had “Bobotie en geelrys met rosyntjies” (yellow rice with raisins).
We went to a friend the other night for supper. And I tell you, my mouth started to water when I heard we were going to have Bobotie. She of course had a great East Africa twist to it and we had coconut rotis with the bobotie – oh my soul!! (Will have to beg her for the recipe!)
I would dare to say that many Afrikaans-speaking South Africans could say that this is their “national” dish…… Well, I certainly think so.
Bobotie is a tastebud-tantalizing meat dish that contains curry power, turmeric, lemon, raisins, apples, almonds and various other lovely ingredients. To tell you where Bobotie comes from, I quote from www.epicurious.com: “The spices are the contribution of South Africa's Cape Malay population, descendants of Indonesian slaves brought to the country by Dutch traders in the 17th century. As cooks for their Dutch masters, the Malays melded European and Asian cooking techniques, helping to create South Africa's culinary melting pot.”
Here is one of my best Bobotie Recipes – ala Erica:
BOBOTIE
- 1 ½ thick slices white bread without crust
- ¼ cup cream/milk
- 1 ½ tbsp oil
- 1 ½ tbsp butter
- 3 cups beef mince
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 apple and 1 carrot peeled and grated
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 ½ tbsp turmeric
- 3 tbsp apricot jam/chutney
- 2 tbsp almonds roasted and chopped
- 1 tbsp raisins
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- salt and pepper
- ¼ cup cream
- ¼ cup plain yoghurt
- 2 eggs beaten bay leaves
Soak bread in ¼ cup cream/milk
Heat half oil and butter and fry mince until crumbly and dry, remove
Fry onion in rest of oil and butter and add apple, curry powder and turmeric – stir for about 1 min
Add this to mince and add apricot, almonds, raisins, lemon juice, salt and pepper – stir thoroughly
Add bread and soaking liquid
Spoon meat into greased oven dish
Whisk cream, yoghurt and eggs and pour over meat
Press bay leaves into meat and bake for 45 mins until golden brown on top
Serve with rice (you can add 1 tsp of turmeric to your rice and it will go yellow) and sambals
SAMBALS: (I just mix it all up – it’s the best. Make it just before serving otherwise the banana will go brown)
1 banana diced
2 tomatoes deseeded and finely diced
½ onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped chopped coriander
1 tsp brown sugar (taste)
2 tsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil salt and pepper to taste
Enjoy enjoy my fellow foodies!
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