Bobotie - A true South African fare....

As I go through all your different posts each day, I realize that many of you try to stick to recipes within your culture and that made me think that I also have an obligation to show you some recipes that are authentic here in South Africa. Our food heritage have so many influences for instance Indian, Greek, Portuguese and Dutch to name but a few. One of these recipes is for a meat dish called Bobotie and it is a typical Cape Malay dish.

THE BOBOTIE FILLING


· 1 lb beef, minced
· 2 slices white bread, stale with crusts removed(I used breadcrumbs, soaked in the milk)
· 1 onion, thinly sliced
· 2 tbsp cooking oil
· 2 tbsp hot water
· 2 tbsp sugar
· 2 tbsp lemon juice
· 2 tsp curry powder
· ½ tsp ground cloves
· 1 tsp garlic, crushed
· 1 tsp turmeric
· ½ tsp salt(to taste)

THE TOPPING

· 1 egg, lightly beaten
· ½ cup milk
· bay leaves or lemon leaves for garnishing


Pre-heat the oven to 325o F.
Soak the bread in water for 10 minutes, squeeze out the excess and
then crumble.
In a large frying pan, heat the oil and braise the onion until golden.
Add the onion mixture from the frying pan, the hot water, lemon juice, crumbled
bread, turmeric and sugar to the mince, mixing well.
Spoon the mixture into a well-greased, oven-proof dish and bake for 40 minutes, or
until golden brown and then remove from the oven.
Topping
Combine the other egg with the milk and beat well. Pour the mixture over the
bobotie and arrange the bay/lemon leaves as garnish. Return to the oven and bake
at 350o F for 10 minutes, or until the topping is set.

Traditionally this sweet, spicy meat dish is served with sambals like, tomato, chutney, cucumber and in my home stewed peaches. Oh, and don't forget the yellow rice with raisins.

I hope you enjoy.....