Bobotie
South Africa’s curried beef bake: sweet-sour spiced mince under a golden egg custard with bay leaves, served with yellow raisin rice.
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 50 min
- total
- 1 h 15 min
- serves
- 6
- level
- easy
Bobotie is Cape Malay cooking in one dish: curried beef made tender with milk-soaked bread, pulled sweet by apricot jam and raisins, pushed back by vinegar, and baked under a savory egg custard with bay leaves pressed into the top.
The sweet-sour tug is the whole personality. Get the jam and vinegar balanced and the dish does the rest, including converting people who thought they knew what curried mince was.
Bobotie is one of the world's classic dishes from 67 countries.
method
Soften the onions in the butter, add the curry powder and turmeric for a minute, then brown the beef.
Squeeze the bread (keep the milk) and mix it into the meat with the jam, vinegar, raisins and almonds. Season boldly and cook 5 minutes.
Spread the mixture in a buttered baking dish and smooth the top.
Whisk the eggs with the reserved and fresh milk, season, and pour over the meat. Press the bay leaves into the custard.
Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35 to 40 minutes until the custard is set and golden.
Rest 10 minutes and serve with yellow rice.
chef's tips
- The milk-soaked bread is the tenderness; do not skip it for fear of oddness.
- Mrs Ball’s chutney instead of jam is the South African pantry move.
- Bobotie reheats beautifully, and the flavors are better the second day.