It’s Bobotie time!!!!!!!

A couple of years back, we (my husband, brother and I) had been on a trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, to visit my uncle and family. Our first trip to a place outside India, we had decided beforehand that it should be a journey to try out new cuisines – yes, you guessed it right – all of us are foodies. And we did get that chance and tasted scrumptious crocodile, delectable ostrich and yummy local dishes like bunny chow and snacks like biltong (dried, cured meat – comes with and without spice). Crocodile kebab tasted a lot like fish with its texture almost like cooked chicken. Ostrich, I recollect, it to be a little chewy, a lot like beef. Bunny chow is hollowed bread filled with spicy curry. Biltong, usually eaten as a snack, can also be used in curries and stews. We had beef biltong. What a wonderful culinary journey, that was!! :-)

One of the things we did not get a chance to taste is their national dish – Bobotie. I am told it is pronounced as Ba-boor-tea. It is a spicy minced meat base topped with a mix of milk and eggs. So when recently I saw this TV show where the chef made Bobotie, I had it in mind to give it a try at home.

Last Saturday, when I had only very little time to prepare lunch as we had been out most of morning, I decided this is Bobotie time. From the show, I remembered it to be a very easy dish. Having read the recipes by a couple of chefs, I felt each one adds their own twist to it. So I went with my recipe for it, keeping the main ingredients unaltered.

Recipe

Ingredients

Oil – 2 teaspoons
Shallots – 6 to 8 nos.
Onion – 1 (big)
Coriander seeds – 2-3 tablespoons
Turmeric – ½ teaspoon
Garlic – 1 full pod (about 6 to 8 pieces)
Ginger – 1 small piece
Green Chilli – 1 no.
Pepper – 2 tablespoons
Coriander powder – 2 teaspoons
Meat masala - 1 teaspoon
Minced Meat (I used chicken – can be supplemented with beef/mutton) – ½ kg
Brown bread – 4 slices
Milk –  ¼ litre
Egg – 2 nos.
Coriander leaves – a few
Sultanas (dried grapes) – 6 to 8 nos.
Salt to taste

Tip: a) If you like some more sweetness to your dish, you can add dried apricots, apple and even sugar.
        b) You can alter the green chilli, pepper quantities according to your spice tolerance.

Preparation

• Paste – Ground coriander seeds, turmeric (great if you get fresh turmeric – a small piece would do), garlic, ginger, green chilli in a mortar and pestle. 
• Marinade – mix salt and pepper to the minced meat.
• Soaked bread – To four slices of bread, add milk. 
• Topping – To the milk left out from soaking the bread, beat two eggs.

Heat oil in a pan.
Add shallots, onion, sultanas, the masala paste, coriander powder, (in the show, they added madras curry paste. You can add locally available meat masala instead).
Once sauted well, add the minced meat and mix well.
Add the soaked bread (after squeezing out any additional milk) at this point and mix well.
Add coriander leaves.
Transfer this entire mixture onto the baking pan.

Level it out slightly. 

Pour the beaten egg + milk mixture on the top of this.
On a pre-heated oven, bake Bobotie for 20 min at 170c. The texture you should look for is a golden brown crisp topping and a succulent meat mixture inside.

Tip: Based on the meat you use, you will need to adjust the cooking time. As I used minced chicken, by the time the soaked bread is mixed with it, yes, the chicken got almost cooked reducing the rest of my cooking time to 20 min.

Garnishing note – A gastronomic treat, you must try this mouth-watering Bobotie J