African Culinary Journey from Global African Times – Enjoy the South African Dish – The Delicious Bobotie

Bobotie is a South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping.

Considered by many to be the South African national dish, Bobotie (pronounced ba-bo-tea) is a meat-based dish and one of the most well-known examples of Cape Malay cuisine. This hearty meal combines minced meat, typically lamb or beef, with curry spices (turmeric, cumin, curry powder) onions, milk-soaked bread, and dried fruit, usually raisins or sultanas. The meat is topped with an egg and milk mixture and baked in the oven. It’s usually served with yellow rice, another staple South African food. This recipe can also be made with lentils instead of mince, so you can still try this delicious dish if you don’t eat meat.

Bobotie appears to be a variant of patinam ex lacte, a dish documented by the ancient Roman writer “Apicius” consisting of layers of cooked meat, pine nuts, and seasoned with pepper, celery seeds, and asafoetida. These were cooked until the flavours had blended when a top layer of egg and milk was added. When the latter had set, the dish was ready to be served. C. Louis Leipoldt, a South African writer and gourmet, wrote that the recipe was known in Europe in the seventeenth century.

Ingredients

• 1 kg minced beef or lamb
• 1 fairly thick sliced crust-less bread It can be brown or white
• 375 ml milk
• 25 ml oil
• 2 sliced onions
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp fruit chutney
• 1 tbsp smooth apricot jam
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 1/2 tbsp brown vinegar
• 6 tbsp sultanas (don’t replace with raisins – they are too sweet; sultanas are much better for this recipe)
• 3 eggs
• bay leaves

Instructions

1. First off, soak your bread in milk.
2. Grease a large baking dish and heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/gas 4.
3. Warm a large, wide casserole pot over a medium heat and add oil and butter, and fry the garlic and onions until the onions are soft.
4. Then add curry powder, salt, chutney, jam, Worcestershire sauce, turmeric, and vinegar and mix well together.
5. Drain the milk from your soaked bread (keep the drained milk) and mash the bread.
6. Then add the bread to the pan together with mince and sultanas.
7. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the meat is cooked, then remove it from the stove.
8. Now add 1 beaten egg and mix everything together well. Lastly, spoon into a greased baking dish, approx. 28 x 16 cm baking dish to the top.
9. Beat the remaining 2 eggs with the leftover drained milk (hopefully around 300 ml, or a little more).
10. Pour over the meat mixture and put a few bay leaves on top.
11. Bake uncovered at 180C for approximately 35 mins or until set (nicely browned).
12. Serve with rice.

Note: You can also serve it alongside chutney, nuts, or bananas.

Make sure that as you travel to South Africa this festive season, you enjoy the South African Bobotie

Today, bobotie is much more likely to be made with beef or lamb, although pork can also be used. Early recipes incorporated ginger, marjoram, and lemon rind; the introduction of curry powder has simplified the recipe but the basic concept remains the same. Some recipes also call for chopped onions and almonds to be added to the mixture. Traditionally, bobotie incorporates dried fruit like raisins or sultanas. It is often garnished with bay leaves, walnuts, chutney, and bananas. Although not too spicy, the dish incorporates a variety of flavours that can add complexity. For example, the dried fruit (usually apricots and raisins or sultanas) contrasts the curry flavouring. The texture of the dish is also complex, with the baked egg mixture topping complementing the milk-soaked bread which adds moisture to the dish. Bobotie is usually served with “yellow rice”, which is rice cooked with turmeric.