Babotie (pronounced ba-boor-tea) is the national dish of South Africa and Granny Cha was from South Africa. Her boys were brought up on Babotie and so are her granddaughters – they love it! This is also a fantastic dish to serve for a relaxed supper with friends. Babotie has a varied heritage: the Dutch brought ground meat to the local cuisine, the spices were introduced by the slaves from Indonesia and the presentation is reminiscent of English shepherd’s pie. Bobotie used to be made with leftovers from the Sunday roast!
This will serve 2 – 4 adults and will make between 4 to 6 kiddie portions. It also freezes well, using the foil trays.
Ingredients
- 2 slices of bread (brown is fine)
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 500g lean minced beef (you can also use minced lamb)
- Curry powder (for children: ½ to 1 tsp mild / for adults: 2 tbsp of your favourite curry powder)
- 1 tbsp apricot jam
- 2 tbsp peach or mango chutney
- handful of sultanas (optional)
- 1 tsp tumeric
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- a couple of bay leaves
Instructions
- Soak bread in milk for 15-20 mins.
- Meanwhile, fry the onions in the oil until golden.
- Add the garlic and beef (or lamb if using) and cook until it changes colour.
- Stir in the curry powder and leave to cool a little.
- Squeeze the milk from the bread (keeping the milk which you will use for the topping) and add to the meat mixture plus jam, chutney, turmeric, lemon juice and 1 egg, well beaten. Season and mix well until you have a lovely moist mixture.
- Turn the mixture into a buttered or oiled overnproof dish. Babotie is a great ‘prepare ahead’ dish, so if you are wanting to cook later, just cover and pop in the fridge when cool.
- If freezing: allow to cool and freeze at this stage.
- When ready to cook, for the topping, beat the milk and eggs with seasoning, and then pour over meat.
- Top with the bay leaves and bake in a tray of hot water at 180C for 35-40 minutes, until the topping is set and starting to turn golden.
- Serve with rice and a crisp salad.
- Enjoy!
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 – approx 10 mins. If you are not sure about using curry powder for your little ones, you could try using 1tsp coriander & 1tsp cumin instead (which will still give a lovely curry flavour that’s not hot). Serve with a salad and rice. For children, serve with a finely chopped tomato and cucumber salad.
Photo Credit: Paul Watson
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