Bobotie is a traditional, well-loved South African dish thought to have originated from an Indonesian dish named bobotok. In the 1700’s the settlers from the Dutch East India Company brought their version of this meat dish into our kitchens. It was quickly adopted by the Cape Malay community who added their own flavours and has since become a firm favourite throughout the country.
Our kitchen maestro, Chef Ryan, has taken this traditional meal and given it a modern and clever twist. Here is his recipe for this delicious, famous dish, Tanda Tula style.
Ingredients:
- 500 g lamb mince
- 2 tbs sunflower oil
- 1 medium white onion, finely diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, grated
- 10 ml fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tbs apricot jam
- 2 slices white bread, no crusts
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- salt and pepper to taste
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Soak the bread in the milk and set aside.
- In a heavy based sauce pan, fry the onions until translucent in colour.
- Add the mince, sunflower oil, bay leaves, garlic, ginger and coriander and continue frying over high heat until the mince has browned.
- Add the curry powder and turmeric, reduce the heat, and fry for a further 5 minutes.
- Stir in the apricot jam.
- Squeeze out all the excess milk from the bread and set aside. Save the milk for the custard.
- Stir the bread into the mince until it has dissolved. Season to taste.
- Whisk the eggs and left-over milk together.
- Mix the egg custard into the mince.
- Pour the mince into a bread loaf tin and flatten the top with a spatula.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the top of the bobotie feels firm to the touch.
- Once the bobotie has baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely.
- Carefully remove the bobotie from the bread loaf tin and cut it into large cubes.
- Coat each of the cubes in desiccated coconut and lay out on a roasting tray.
- Re heat the bobotie cubes in the oven at 180ᵒC just before serving.
- Serve with freshly cut apple salsa and chutney.
