Bobotie recipe

Kevin Dundon
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This was declared the national dish of South Africa by the United Nations women’s organisation in 1954. It has a varied heritage – the Dutch brought minced (ground) meat to local cuisine, the spices were introduced by slaves from Indonesia and the presentation is reminiscent of English Shepherd’s Pie. My mother was a tremendous cook and this dish was always a firm favourite of hers; it was her method of using up the leftovers from Sunday lunch.

Ingredients

2 slices of bread
125 ml milk
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp freshly grated root ginger (gingerroot)
0.5 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
900 g minced beef or lamb
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp tomato chutney
0.5 lemon - juiced
75 g raisins
1 pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs - for the topping
200 ml milk (reserved from soaking the bread) - for the topping

Details

Cuisine: South African
Recipe Type: Main
Difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 45 mins
Serves: 6

Step-by-step

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F), Gas mark 3.
Soak the bread in the milk for about 10 minutes, then strain, reserving the milk, and fluff the bread up with a fork.
Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions and sauté until soft. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder and turmeric and mix quickly to coat the onions in the spice. Add the beef and continue to stir over a medium heat until browned.
Add the sugar, mashed bread, chutney, lemon juice and raisins to the mixture in the pan and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into a casserole dish and bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
For the topping, mix the eggs and the reserved milk together then remove the casserole from the oven and pour the egg custard on top of the meat. Bake for a further 15-20 minutes.