South African Recipes

Bobotie (submitted by Greg van Schaik E-Mail)   
Bobotie is one of the best known South African dishes , and like Sosaties, Chutney, Sambals and some preserves it was brought to South Africa by Muslim slaves in the late 17^th century. It was traditionally made from left over meat (The roast leg of mutton from the Sunday meal was served as Bobotie on Monday). When made from minced left – over meat  - be it mutton, beef of venison – the Bobotie will have a much finer texture than when made from fresh meat. The same ingredients are used, with a slight change in cooking times.

Ingredients:
1 kg minced beef or mutton
2 mediun sized onions,peeled and thinly sliced
30 ml oil
15 ml medium curry powder
5 ml turmeric
30 ml white vinegar or lemon juice
15 ml sugar
5 ml salt
2 ml black pepper
1 slice white bread (3 cm thick)
250 ml milk
2 large eggs
75 g seedless raisins
45 ml fruit chutney
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 bay leaves
6 – 12 almonds blanched and quartered
6 lemon leaves

Method:

1. 
   Parboil the onions in a little water until just opaque, then drain, reserving the water, chop and fry in the oil until just golden.

2. Add the curry powder and turmeric.

3. Fry for 2 minutes, stirring all the time, then add the vinegar or lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.

4. In the meantime, soak the bread in the milk, the squeeze dry, strain the milk and set aside.

5. Crumble the minced raw meat into a pan with the onion water and a little boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes.

6. Next, lightly mix the meat, soaked bread, onion mixture, 1 egg, raisins, chutney, and lemon rind (if used).

7. Pack into a buttered casserole, add the bay leaves, cover and cook in the oven ( 180° c) for 1 1/2 hours.

8. Remove from the oven and stick the almonds and lemon leaves (turned into little cones) into the meat.

9. Whip up the remaining egg with the milk – add about half the cup more to make a full cup (250 ml) and carefully pour onto the meat (over the back of a spoon) to make a smooth layer.

10. Return the casserole to the oven, turning the heat down to 150° c and bake uncovered foe a further 30minutes, or until the custard has set.

11. If you decide to use cooked meat instead, smooth the mixture down in a buttered dish.

12. Place the lemon leaf cones and whole almonds on top of the meat and pour over the remaining whipped egg and milk.

13. Place a flat pan of water on the bottom shelf of the oven.

14. When it begins to bubble, place the Bobotie dish in the water and bake for 45 minutes or until the custard has set.

This page was last updated : Thursday, October 04, 2001

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