Bobotie from South Africa

This has always been one of my family's favourite South African meals.  Bobotie is Cape Malay cuisine which has its roots in Cape Town, and as Cape Town is my home...

Bobotie can probably be made with any kind of minced meat, although some prefer beef and others prefer mutton.  I once had the pleasure of eating ostrich bobotie and it was orgasmic.

The Recipe

All the ingredients listed below are easy to come by and found in most kitchens. The thing with bobotie, is that you can use the basic idea and add in some of your own curry and spice combinations to create your own unique flavour. The basic bobotie recipe is this:

2 onions, peeled and sliced

1kg good quality lean ground beef

1 thickish slice of white bread

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons curry powder the strength of which is too your taste, mild or hot, no worries

1/2 teaspoon chili powder for some zing

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

freshly grated pepper (about a half teaspoon)

3/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup seedless raisins

3 tablespoons strong chutney or apricot jam or a combination of both(fruit chutney is another famous Cape Malay thingie)

2 bay leaves (or fresh lemon leaves if available just for decoration to tart it up a bit)

2 medium eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180C.

Chop up the onions and add to your ground beef/mince which should be in a mixing bowl.

Soak bread in half the milk and mash with a fork. Set the rest of the milk aside for later, and add mushy milk bread to the meat mixture.

Add curry powder, sugar, salt, pepper, turmeric, vinegar, raisins, chutney (apricot or peach jam) to the meat mixture. Spoon the mixture into a greased baking dish, and place bay leaves on top. (Tip: I usually add in some garlic and ginger as well but it is not necessary)

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes in preheated 350°F oven.

Beat egg with remaining milk and pour over your half-baked bobotie and bake for another 25-30 minutes

Serve with steamed yellow rice and extra chutney. To make the rice yellow, add a little turmeric when it is steaming. You can also add some raisins into the rice as well.  Wash down with copious amounts or South African red wine.
Cindy Vine is a South African author and teacher currently living in Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, The Colorful Art of Pain, Defective and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both kindle and print format.