My South African/Australian friend made this for me a while ago and it was freaking fantastic. The sweetness of the raisins and chutney balanced out with the flavourful savoury beef mince was amazing. I haven’t been able to get her to reveal her secrets to me, so I decided to do some google-investigating. Although it’s not exactly like hers, I think it’s pretty close and certainly delicious!
Recipes adapted from:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/157881/best-bobotie/
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/98799/south-african-yellow-rice/
Servings: 5
Ingredients:
- Bobotie:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 medium onions, minced
- 700g (1.5lbs) ground beef
- 1 cup milk
- 4 slices of plain white bread
- 1/2 cup of raisins or craisins
- 1.5 Tbsp of chutney (hot or fruit)
- 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch salt
- Turmeric rice:
- 2.5 cups water
- 1 cup long grain white rice (basmati is a good choice)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1.5 tsp ground tumeric
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup raisins or craisins
- 1 Tbsp butter
Directions:
- Bobotie:
- Preheat oven to 175˚C (350F) and lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish/meatloaf pan. (pan must be narrow and deep)
- Put the milk in a shallow dish and soak the bread in the milk. Squeeze excess milk from the bread and set aside.
- Over medium-high heat, in a pan, sauté the onions in the oil until soft.
- Break the ground beef into the pan and cook until brown. Reduce the heat to low.
- Add the previously soaked bread, craisins, chutney, curry powder, salt and black pepper. Mix thoroughly.
- Place the bay leaves inside the meat mixture and transfer it all to the baking dish.
- Bake uncovered for ~15-20 minutes (until the top layer of meat is a darker brown – a “baked” look)
- Whisk the reserved milk, eggs and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Pour this mixture over the bobotie (after you’ve baked it for 15-20mins). Then put it back in the oven for another 15-20 mins (until egg is done and top is golden brown). Done!
- Turmeric rice:
- Mix all the ingredients in a small pot/sauce pan and cover with a lid. Switch it on high heat and bring to a boil. (Mix the rice occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan)
- After it reaches a boil, turn the heat on low and simmer for 15-20minutes until the water is gone or rice is fluffy. Done!
- To serve: spoon the bobotie over the turmeric rice with a dollop of chutney (fruit or hot) on the side. Can also sprinkle desiccated coconut over it, some chopped almonds and sliced bananas. Enjoy!
Notes:
- It is important that you have the right size pan! Something narrow and deep, like a bread loaf pan or something similar to those dimensions. If you use a wide tray, your egg won’t sit on top of the meat and your meat will more readily overcook and dry out in the oven. A narrower and deeper dish, it decreases the surface area and the egg custard mix will cover the top better and protect it from being overcooked.
Abby Approved 