Bobotie (Serves 6-8)
2 thick slices of stale white bread
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 c. butter
2 large onions, chopped
1 3/4 lb. ground beef (sirloin apparently works best)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. tumeric
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
3 cloves & 5 allspice (I ground these up by hand with the peppercorns)
1/2 tsp. peppercorns
1/2 c. golden raisins (dark ones are OK too)
1/4 c. sliced almonds
2 tbsp. chutney**
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves (or 6-8 lemon leaves)
1 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″x13″ pan. Soak the bread in the milk then squeeze it out, adding the squeezed-out milk back into the original cup; if you now have less than a whole cup, top it up. Add the eggs and whisk just until mixed.
2. Saute the onions in the vegetable oil over medium heat until they start to turn translucent. Add the spices (not the bay leaves), nuts, chutney, and raisins, and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the meat and bread and cook, stirring, for a minute or two just until the beef starts to brown.
3. Turn the meat into the prepared pan, place the bay leaves on top, and pour the egg-milk mixture over it. Bake for 30 minutes until the custard on top has set.
**South African chutney is sweeter than Indian; you can fudge it by combining duck sauce and apricot jam.
Malva Pudding
1 egg
1 c. (250 ml) sugar
1 c. flour
1 tsp. (5ml) baking soda/bicarb
Pinch salt
1 tbsp. (15 ml) apricot jam
1 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tbsp. white or cider vinegar
1/2 c. (125 ml) milk
For the Sauce:
1/2 c. heavy cream
3 tbsp. (75 g) butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. (60 ml) brandy
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 8″ square pan or 9″ pie pan. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
2. Beat egg and sugar together well, and add the jam. Melt butter, add vinegar and milk, and add alternately to egg mixture with sifted dry ingredients.
3. Pour into the prepared pan and bake covered loosely with foil for 45-60 minutes.
4. Combine sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour the sauce over the pudding immediately after it comes out of the oven. Serve warm with custard, cream or ice-cream.
Adapted from South African Gourmet Food & Wine