Kick-start your Football World Cup festivities with a family feast of Babotie – the national dish of South Africa! The kids will love it! Babotie (pronounced ba-boor-tea) has lots of influences; the Dutch (who brought ground meat to the local cuisine) the Indonesians (who brought the spices) and the English (well, the presentation of Babotie is reminiscent of English shepherd’s pie!). My kids love Babotie and have dones so from babies (so if you’re cooking for little ones, remember to adjust your spices accordingly). The recipe below is “Granny Cha’s Babotie” and Granny Cha was from South Africa. So here’s to you Granny Cha, your yummy recipe and South Africa – “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika”!
This will serve 6 adults and will make between 8 to 12 kiddie portions. It also freezes well, using the foil trays.
Ingredients
- 2 slices of white bread (I have also used brown and it works)
- 2 onions, chopped
- 25g butter
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1kg of lean minced beef (you can also use minced lamb)
- Curry powder (for children: ½ to 1 tsp mild / for adults: 2 tsp of your favourite curry powder)
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
- 3 cloves
- 1 tsp allspice
- 2 tbsp peach or mango chutney
- 3 tbsp sultanas
- 6 bay leaves
- 300ml full-cream milk
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas 4. Pour cold water over the bread and set aside to soak.
- Meanwhile, fry the onions in the butter for 10 minutes, stirring regularly until soft.
- Add the garlic and beef (or lamb if using) and cook until it changes colour.
- Stir in the curry powder, herbs, spices, chutney, sultanas and 2 bay leaves.
- Season with a little black pepper.Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Squeeze the water from the bread and then add to the meat mixture and stir until well blended.
- Tip the mixture into and ovenproof dish / or foil trays, press the mixture down and smooth the top.
- If freezing: allow to cool and freeze at this stage.
- For the topping, beat the milk and eggs with seasoning, and then pour over meat.
- Top with the remaining bay leaves and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the topping is set and starting to turn golden.
Sarah’s Hints & Tips
If you are wanting to just cook a kiddy portion, I usually do a guestimate for the topping, approx 100ml of milk and one egg. The smaller portions will not take as long to cook either. Serve with a salad and rice. For children, serve with a finely chopped tomato and cucumber salad.
Photo Credit: Paul Watson
Save this recipe
Email to a friend
