Bobotie Alla Odette (South African Recipe)

[Snip 13]

This is my version of a SA traditional meal. This is a Cape Malay dish It's a curried mince beef bake topped with eggy topping and served with yellow rice.
Hope you guys like it!

1.3 pounds of ground beef
1 large onion thinly sliced
1 apple peeled and grated
Handful of Dried apricots chopped
2 tsps of curry powder
1 tsp of turmeric
1/2 tsp of ground cloves
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 tsp of crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 slices of white bread crusts cut off
2 eggs beaten
Milk to soak the bread
Oil for frying

For the topping
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup of milk
salt
Lemon or bay leaves to garnish

Preheat oven to 325 F

In a pan fry onion and grated apple till lightly browned. Add all the spices, garlic and fry for 2 mins to cook out the spice. Add minced beef and brown slightly.
Remove from heat. Add the chopped apricots and sultanas now if using.
Soak bread in a little milk and crumble into the mince. Mix the beaten egg and bread well with mixture and put the mix in a glass dish or lasagna dish. Even out the mixture and press it firmly into the dish.

For the eggy topping:
2 eggs beaten
Half a cup of milk
salt
Mix milk and egg well add salt to season.

Bake the mix for 30 minutes then remove and pour over the eggy topping and stick a few lemon or bay leaves into the mince mix.
Bake further until eggy topping is set and light golden brown.

Serve with yellow rice, chutney and thin slices of banana. Add a tsp of turmeric when you boil the rice to make it yellow.

 

[ChefJune]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Years ago someone in one of my cooking classes gave me a similar recipe for Bobotie (she was also from South Africa). I have lost it! We really liked it, and I was hoping for another TNT recipe.

You must have read my thoughts.

 

[Snip 13]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Years ago someone in one of my cooking classes gave me a similar recipe for Bobotie (she was also from South Africa). I have lost it! We really liked it, and I was hoping for another TNT recipe.

You must have read my thoughts.

I'm Glad I could be of service If you want any SA recipes just shout! P.S Most South Africans like myself add a splash of W/Sauce when browning the ground beef for extra meaty flavour Most of the recipes on the internet are put there by non South Africans and are not what we actually do

 

[Selkie]

I had to copy it for my recipe files! Thanks!

 

[Snip 13]

I had to copy it for my recipe files! Thanks!

De nada

 

[LPBeier]

Snip, you are a real treasure! I am definitely going to try this one.

 

[Snip 13]

Snip, you are a real treasure! I am definitely going to try this one.

You guys are all so sweet I love being able to share some of my culture and it's really nice when it's something people look forward to trying!

 

[ChefJune]

Snip, you are a real treasure! I am definitely going to try this one.

You'll love it, Laurie. Bobotie is delicious!

 

[Barbara L]

I will have to try this soon too!

There is a South African market about 30 miles from here. I have been wanting to go there and see what they have. Now I know where to turn when I find some interesting new ingredients there!

 

[Snip 13]

I will have to try this soon too!

There is a South African market about 30 miles from here. I have been wanting to go there and see what they have. Now I know where to turn when I find some interesting new ingredients there!

You can ask anything anytime
Let me know what you find!

 

[Timothy]

You guys are all so sweet I love being able to share some of my culture and it's really nice when it's something people look forward to trying!

This will absolutely get eaten at my house! Thanks Snip!

I do have a question for you. For the curry powder, which type of curry powder do you use? "Curry" in India can mean any of a dozen or more distinctive different types of flavors. Some hot, some not.

Do you have a brand you favor for this dish? Do you make your own curry powders?

 

[4meandthem]

Sounds real good! Are the bananas starchy non-sweet type?

 

[Snip 13]

This will absolutely get eaten at my house! Thanks Snip!

I do have a question for you. For the curry powder, which type of curry powder do you use? "Curry" in India can mean any of a dozen or more distinctive different types of flavors. Some hot, some not.

Do you have a brand you favor for this dish? Do you make your own curry powders?

We use Rajah Curry Powder In SA, it's a South African Brand but it's available online in the US. Medium strength is what I go for. I sometimes buy curry powder at the Indian Market. Packo Curry Paste is also good for this recipe.
It's more personal preference than anything else, go for the strength you prefer as long as it's an Indian Curry powder. Malay if you can find.

 

[Snip 13]

Sounds real good! Are the bananas starchy non-sweet type?

Regular bananas, this is a sweet curry dish. Just slice really thin slices of ripe but not over ripe banana directly onto the curry when you dish up. The heat from the dish will soften the banana and serve some chutney on the side. Peach chutney or apricot. We use SA Mrs. Balls chutney but you can use whatever brand you prefer.

 

[Luca Lazzari]

It looks goooood, Odette!
But, I will try it without the fruit. I know I'm a blockhead, but I find it very difficult to mix sweet and salad, meat and fruit, and so on.

Thank you for sharing

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

This sounds fantastic! I'm definitely going to have to try it.

While I love the fact that the U.S. incorporates so many different cultures into its food, and I love the variety in regional cultural cuisine, sometimes it makes me a little sad that we don't have any sort of universal cultural cuisine across the nation. Unless you count things like hamburgers, hot dogs and deepfried things that don't really need to be deep fried.

 

[buckytom]

looks really good, snip. copied and saved. thanks.

 

[Snip 13]

Thank you for all the kind comments Hope you all enjoy it!

 

[Snip 13]

It looks goooood, Odette!
But, I will try it without the fruit. I know I'm a blockhead, but I find it very difficult to mix sweet and salad, meat and fruit, and so on.

Thank you for sharing

Not at all Luca, I myself am not too fond of fruit in Savoury dishes but this is the traditional method. I often leave the dried fruit out but add the grated apple since it's not added for sweetness but more a texture. The apple is barely noticeable once cooked but I would not leave it out since it reduces the bitter notes of a curry. If preferred you could add a grated carrot instead.

 

[Luca Lazzari]

Not at all Luca, I myself am not too fond of fruit in Savoury dishes but this is the traditional method. I often leave the dried fruit out but add the grated apple since it's not added for sweetness but more a texture. The apple is barely noticeable once cooked but I would not leave it out since it reduces the bitter notes of a curry. If preferred you could add a grated carrot instead.

Let the apple get in!