Bobotie Recipe-

Ingredients:

(makes 4 very large servings)

• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3 medium yellow onions, peeled and minced
• 1-1/2 lb. fresh, lean ground beef
• 1 cup whole cow’s milk
• 2 thick slices whole wheat bread
• 1/2 cup red raisins
• 2 tsp. apricot jam
• 1-1/2 tbsp. hot mango chutney
• 1 tbsp. yellow curry powder
• 1 tsp. freshly ground course sea salt, plus ½ tsp.
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black peppercorns
• 1 large egg (jumbo, if you can get that size)
• 1 bay leaf

 

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Put the oil in a 13” paella pan or, if you don’t have a paella pan, a pan of the same size, suitable for stovetop cooking as well as oven baking.
3. Bring the heat up to medium-high, add in the minced onions and cook until soft, fragrant, and translucent
4. With your fingers, break off the ground beef into little chunks into the pan and cook until well browned, stirring as you cook, to further break the ground beef down into tiny chunks.
5. Soak the bread in milk in a shallow dish; squeeze the excess milk out of the bread, and then set the milk aside.
6. Add the soaked bread into the cooking onion and beef mixture.
7. Now add in the apricot jam, chutney, raisins, 1 tsp. salt, the pepper, and curry powder, and stir well to blend all ingredients together.
8. Place the pan in the oven and bake for one hour.
9. Toward the end of the hour of baking your bobotie, whisk together the egg, reserved milk, and ½ tsp. of salt.
10. Remove the pan from the oven, and pour the milk and egg mixture all over the top of your bobotie in an even layer. Place the bay leaf in the center of the custard layer.
11. Now return your bobotie to the oven and bake another 25 minutes to a half an hour, until the custard topping is a pleasing golden brown. Remove bay leaf before serving your authentic South African Bobotie.

---