Bobotie (buh-boot-tea)

Considered one of South Africa’s national dishes and a firm favourite of our resident South African designer, Pieter Du Toit.

A baked mincemeat dish with Indonesian origins. A very wholesome and comforting meal, it is usually served with yellow rice, vegetables and chutney on the side. Mrs H.S. Ball’s original peach chutney is required and can be found in most of the larger UK supermarkets nowadays, although mango chutney can be substituted at a pinch.

SERVES: 6 or 4 hungry diners

PREP TIME: 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 90 minutes

DIFFICULTY: Simple

Bobotie_Ingredients
 

Ingredients

  • 1kg of beef or lamb mince

  • 2 onions

  • 1 slice of bread

  • 1 cup of milk

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1 tablespoon of curry powder

  • 1 tablespoon of sugar

  • 2 teaspoons of salt

  • ½ teaspoon of pepper

  • ½ tablespoon of turmeric

  • 2 tablespoons of vinegar

  • 3 tablespoons of peach or mango chutney

  • ½ cup of raisins

  • 4 fresh bay leaves

 

Method

  1. Pre heat the oven to 180 deg. C (350 deg. F). Chop the onions finely and fry on a medium heat with some oil in a large frying pan for a couple of minutes before adding the mince, stirring it in until just cooked.

  2. In the meantime add the bread and ½ cup of the milk to a large mixing bowl letting it soften the bread before mashing it together. We will be using the other ½ cup shortly.

  3. To the bowl add the following: 1 egg, the curry powder, sugar, salt, pepper, turmeric, vinegar, chutney and raisins mixing well. Finally stir in the cooked onion and mince and decant into a buttered ovenproof dish in an even layer.

  4. Nestle the bay leaves evenly spaced into the mixture or if you want to be a bit more fancy roll each leaf up, secure with a toothpick and position them standing upright into the mixture. At this point the dish can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. If you are moving seamlessly on, bake the dish for about 1 ½ hours or until nice and brown on top.

  5. In the meantime whisk the remaining egg and ½ cup of milk until incorporated and pour over the top of the mince for the last ½ hour of cooking before.

  6. Serve with yellow rice, pumpkin or sweet potato mash and some greens on the side.