Best Ever Babotie Recipe

It is winter and time to hibernate so what better way to warm yourself up then with a traditional home cooked Babotie! We have practiced with a few different recipes here and have come up with what we think is the best recipe so far!

Today many consider bobotie to be the national dish of South Africa, and it has become popular on menus featuring South African cuisine all over the world - so why don't give it a go at making it at home! If you have your own recipe or tips then send them across and we will try them out as this dish is a firm family favourite!

So what will we need?

• 3 slices of bread

• 300ml Full Fat Guernsey Milk

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or 2 tablespoons of butter!)

• 2 large onions, roughly chopped

• 4 teaspoons medium curry powder*

• 1 teaspoon dried herbs

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin*

• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric*

• 3 cloves and 5 allspice berries steeped for a few minutes in 75ml water

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 1 kg pound ground beef

• 3 tablespoons of Mrs Balls Chutney (we sometimes use the hot one if the kids aren't eating!)

• 1 tablespoon apricot jam (all gold is the best!)

• Zest and juice of one medium lemon

• 2 tablespoons of sultanas

• 4 teaspoons tomato puree

• Salt and pepper

• 2 large eggs

• 4 bay leaves

*these can be substituted for 3 tablespoons of our durban curry masala

Method:

• 1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Pour cold water over the bread and set aside to soak.

• 2. Meanwhile, fry the onions in the butter (or oil), stirring regularly for 10 mins until they are soft and starting to colour. Add the garlic and beef and stir well, crushing the mince into fine grains until it changes colour. Stir in the masala powder (or curry powder, tumeric and cumin), herbs, spices, water steeped with cloves and allspice berries with 1 tsp salt and plenty of ground black pepper.

• 3. Cover and simmer for 10 mins. Once the beef is browned, remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the chutney, jam, sultanas all the lemon zest, half the lemon juice, tomato paste, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well, give it a taste, and add more lemon juice, salt, and pepper as desired. It should be delightfully zingy!

• 4. Squeeze the water from the bread, then beat into the meat mixture until well blended. Tip into an oval ovenproof dish or skillet (23 x 33cm and about 5-6cm deep). Press the mixture down well and smooth the top. You can make this and chill 1 day ahead.

• 5. For the topping, beat the milk and eggs with seasoning, then pour over the meat. Top with the bay leaves and bake for 35-40 mins until the topping is set and starting to turn golden.

Serve with you favourite side dishes, rice, bread, on toast, dollop of chutney or just eat it on its own!