Hello Diners!

Well, this is pretty exciting. Our good works bring us to South Africa this month, a country that we have not yet had an opportunity to support. Our November grantee, No Means No South Africa (NMNSA), seeks to provide education and practical skills to end sexual violence against women and children.

I’m thrilled to bring you a couple of quintessential South African recipes. I reached out to my dear friend Leora Bloom for guidance, who not only is from South Africa but is also an extremely accomplished cook and baker.

Bobotie (ba-booty) is widely considered the national dish of South Africa. It can be loosely described as a curried meat casserole. There are probably as many ways to make Bobotie as there are ways to make our meatloaf. There is no one authentic way to do it. A traditional bobotie is said to have six key elements which influence the flavor: curry spice, cinnamon, jam, raisins, bread soaked in milk, and bay leaves. Yellow rice with raisins, sometimes referred to as Geelrys, would always be the preferred accompaniment.

I hope you enjoy preparing these easy recipes for your family or your chapter group. Both of these recipes are easily transportable and can be kept warm for a period of time. Please feel free to reach out at lindamac.240@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.

Bobotie (South African Curried Meat Casserole)

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

Bobotie (ba-booty) is a simple dish to make. Brown your meat and seasonings and place in a casserole dish, mix, and pour custard on top and bake! It is the ultimate comfort food. For this version of Bobotie I started with my friend Leora’s recipe and used that as my template. You’ll notice that I didn’t add raisins to my version as I thought the sweetness from the jam would be enough. And since the accompanying South African Yellow Rice had raisins in it I didn’t want to overdo the raisins!

Of note: I came up with a béchamel topping instead of the traditional egg custard topping because I was serving this meal to a friend who has an egg allergy. So I’ve included my alternate béchamel topping for anyone else out there who may have an egg allergy.

For the meat filling:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
1 large or 2 small onions, diced (about 2 cups)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1½ pounds ground beef
1 tablespoon curry powder
1½ teaspoons Kosher salt, or 1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon herbes de Provence (optional)
2 slices sturdy white bread, (about 3 ounces) soaked in water
1 lemon
2 to 4 tablespoons chutney or apricot jam
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
4 bay leaves

For the topping:
½ cup cream
½ cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
½ teaspoon Kosher salt, or ¼ teaspoon table salt

Mix all ingredients together

Alternate topping (egg free):
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 ½ cups milk
½ teaspoon Kosher salt, or ¼ teaspoon fine salt
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ cup plain yogurt or sour cream

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour, stirring and cooking for one minute. Stir in the turmeric and salt, then add the milk in a steady stream whisking the entire time. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer for one minute until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the yogurt or sour cream.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Choose a large sauté pan and melt the butter or oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes, or until they are softened and translucent. Add the beef to the pan, chopping and stirring with a wooden spoon until the beef is finely crumbled and the fat has rendered. At this point you may want to remove some of the fat if there seems to be an excess amount in the pan.

Add all of the spices, give the beef another stir, and sauté for a minute to bloom the spices. Drain the bread and squeeze the water out with your hands, it should be soft enough that when you squeeze out the water with your hands you can then crumble it right into the pan.

Stir the bread vigorously into the meat mixture to break up the clumps. Directly zest the lemon right into the pan and then cut it in half, squeezing the juice into the pan as well. Stir in the almonds, jam or chutney, 2 tablespoons at a time, to your taste (for sweetness). Taste for seasoning and adjust the salt if necessary. It should have a good balance between spicy and sweet, but not be overpoweringly sweet.

To assemble: Choose an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 baking pan or casserole dish. A cast iron pan of a similar size can be used as well. Scrape the filling into the pan and smooth the top. Pour the topping over and poke your bay leaves into it. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The edges will be bubbling just a bit and will be turning golden. Serve with South African Yellow Rice.

South African Yellow Rice/Geelrys

 Geelrys literally translates to “yellow rice.” This beautiful sunny dish of rice spiced with turmeric, cinnamon, and studded with raisins would be a lovely accompaniment for any meal, but it is especially welcome and the standard accompaniment to Bobotie. Basmati rice is preferred, but you can really use any type of white rice that you have in your pantry.

Ingredients

3 cups water
1½ cups basmati rice, rinsed and drained
¼ cup raisins, preferably golden or sultanas
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, or ½ teaspoon fine salt
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 to 2 tablespoons of butter
Lyle’s Golden Syrup or honey to garnish

Directions

Bring the water to a boil and add all ingredients, cook as you usually would cook rice – or use a rice cooker. Fluff rice and place in a serving bowl. Garnish with a few pats of butter and a drizzle of Lyle’s Golden Syrup. If you don’t have Lyle’s and don’t wish to buy it, you could always substitute honey.

Recipe and photo credit: Linda McElroy