South Africa is renowned for it great cuisine.
There are many fantastic South African restaurants serving wonderfully flavoured food. I thought I would share with you one of my favourite recipes for a traditional South Africa Bobotie (buh-boor-tea). This is a dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping. It is made with curry powder so it has a slight "tang". It is often served with yellow rice and sambals of chopped tomato and onions.
It is probably one of the oldest Malay dishes in South Africa as it originates from the Dutch East India Company colonies in Batavia.The name derives from the Indonesian word “Bobotok”.
Preparation Time: 30 Minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Total: 1 hour
Ingredients
1 kg minced lamb
125ml milk
1 thick slice of white bread, crust removed and soaked in milk
2 roughly chopped onions
butter
Salt
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 chilli, finely chopped (optional and only if you like your food quite hot)
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of chutney (Mrs Balls is great for this!)
8 -10 crushed almonds (optional)
3 eggs 1 clove of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
6 bay leaves
1 orange, sliced in wheels
1 lemon, sliced in wheels
Oil for cooking
Recipe Instructions
Heat the oil in frying pan and add the garlic, onion and curry power.
Cook over medium heat for three minutes, then add the mince meat.
Fry until the meat is almost done, then using your hands, squeeze the milk from the bread.
Discard the milk and add the bread, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and chutney to the mince.
Fry for a minute or so and then remove from heat. Take a pie dish and place three bay leaves, two wheels of orange and two wheels of lemon at the bottom.
Now scoop the mince mixture into the dish.
Decorate the sides of the dish with the rest of the lemon and orange wheels, wedging them between the mince and the sides of the dish so that only a third protrudes.
If you are using almonds, push them into the mince.
Beat the eggs and 125ml milk, and pour over the meat.
Put three bay leaves on top of dish.
Place the dish uncovered in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes at 160 deg Celsius.
To serve
Serve with a plain green salad, chopped tomato and onion, sprinkled with a little vinegar. Make sure you have some chutney near at hand. Serve piping hot with the yellow rice.
Yum- yum, I hope that you enjoy the dish!