BOBOTIE, A SOUTH AFRICAN CURRY

The heady flavour of curry is found outside of India in places like the Caribbean, but did you know that there are curries as far away as South Africa?  It’s an interesting story about how exotic foods like Sosatiese (kebabs) and Bredie (stew) became popular in South Africa. They were brought there by Dutch captives from the Malay Archipelago 300 years ago.

The giant Dutch East India Company opened a station in South Africa in 1652 to refresh supplies for its ships traveling to the Far East. They needed workers but were forbidden by Dutch law from enslaving the southern African natives. The political exiles or prisoners from places like Java, who had opposed the colonization of their homeland, were brought by the Dutch to South Africa as indentured servants or slaves.

By 1669, the Dutch East India Company was the richest private company in the world; with over 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, 50,000 employees and a private army of 10,000 soldiers. It had almost absolute ruling power in Dutch colonies from Africa east across the Pacific.

In Cape Town today, the Cape Malay culture still thrives, especially with its distinctive food. Cape Malay cuisine is stimulating, often consisting of exciting combinations of fruit, spices, vegetables and meat. The Cape Malay people spiced up European fare with zesty sambals and chutneys. An important contribution was their introduction of the sweet and sour flavour, now a characteristic of South African cookery.

A traditional Cape Malay dish is the classic Bobotie, a curry type of stew with fruit overtones. It might be the national dish of South Africa. The Dutch introduced the minced meat, but the Cape Malay introduced the spices.  Here is the last Bobotie version I made. We enjoyed it and I’m sure you will also.

From: The Farm Kitchen, Colette Comins, Struik, 2006

Bobotie                                            Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped coarsely

2 inch length of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

7 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon turmeric

3 cardamom pods, crushed, or 1 teaspoon powdered

2 tablespoons commercial curry powder

½ stick of cinnamon, broken up

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2-1/4 pounds ground lamb or beef

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon apricot jam

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon cake flour

1 thick slice white bread

1 cup plus 2 teaspoons milk

4 eggs

3 drops real almond extract

¾ teaspoon grated nutmeg

6 bay leaves

Method:

• Preheat oven to 325F/163C
• Put first 8 ingredients in food processor
• Pulse them until chopped
• Heat oil in a big saucepan
• Add processed ingredients
• Fry until onion is soft
• Remove and put into a large bowl
• Add the ground meat and next 4 ingredients to the bowl
• In a separate bowl soak bread in  milk
• Squeeze out the liquid and add the bread to the meat mixture, reserving liquid

• Pack the meat mixture into an 8x12 inch rectangular casserole dish
• Beat eggs into the reserved milk
• Add almond extract and nutmeg
• Pour milk mixture over meat mixture
• Arrange the bay leaves on the top
• Bake for one hour until firm to the touch

This fragrant beauty is now ready to serve. Traditionally it is served with yellow rice but that’s up to you. A green salad would be a nice accompaniment as well.

Prepare this wonderfully tasty dish and see for yourself why Cape Malay fare is recognized far and wide as an unparalleled aspect of South African culture, via Indonesia.