Traditional bobotie: the South African baked curried minced meat with dried fruit and egg-and-milk topping

Bobotie tells the story of Cape Town. It arrived with the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century, at a meeting between a baked minced meat and egg dish the Dutch already knew and the spices, dried fruit and curry brought by the enslaved and exiled people from the East Indies, who formed the Cape Malay community. In 1954 it was declared the national dish, and it remains the most South African Sunday lunch there is.

It is a sweet and savory dish at once: the ground meat, beef or lamb, is sautéed with onion, mild curry powder, turmeric, dried apricots, raisins, almonds and a little mango chutney and vinegar, thickened with bread soaked in milk. On top goes an egg and milk custard that bakes like a savory pudding, with bay leaves stuck in that perfume the topping.

The traditional side is geelrys, turmeric-yellow rice with raisins and cinnamon, and more chutney on the table. It is easy, feeds a crowd and is ready in an hour in the oven.

Recipe card

• Origin: Cape Town, South Africa
• Category: Main course, baked minced meat
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Oven time: 1 hour
• Serves: 6

Ingredients — meat

• 800 g ground beef or lamb
• 2 thick slices of white bread, crusts removed
• 1 cup milk
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter or oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon mild curry powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons mango chutney
• 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 egg

Ingredients — topping and rice

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk (what is left from the bread, topped up)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 cups rice, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/2 cup raisins, 1 tablespoon butter and salt (for the yellow rice)
• Mango chutney to serve

Method

1. Soak the bread in the milk for 10 minutes, squeeze, reserve the milk and crumble the bread.
2. Sauté the onion in the butter on medium for 8 minutes, until golden. Add the garlic, curry, turmeric, cumin and coriander and sauté for 1 minute.
3. Add the meat and cook, stirring, until it loses its raw color.
4. Add the chutney, vinegar, sugar, apricots, raisins, almonds, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Off the heat, mix in the crumbled bread and 1 beaten egg. Spread in a greased baking dish and smooth.
6. Beat the 2 eggs with the reserved milk, turmeric and a pinch of salt and pour over the meat. Stick the bay leaves into the surface.
7. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 °C for 45 to 60 minutes, until the topping sets and browns.
8. For the yellow rice: cook the rice with the turmeric, cinnamon, raisins, butter and salt in 4 cups of water, covered, for 18 minutes.
9. Let the bobotie rest 10 minutes and serve with the yellow rice and chutney.

Tips and variations

• Mild curry powder, not too hot, is the right one: bobotie is fragrant, not fiery.
• The lamb version is the most traditional of the Cape Malay community.
• Lentil and walnut bobotie is the common vegetarian version in South Africa.
• It can be assembled the day before and baked when needed.
• Leftovers freeze well and reheat in the oven.
• Mrs. Ball's-style mango chutney is the South African classic; any fruit chutney will do.
• A tart tomato and onion salad balances the sweetness of the dish.

Bobotie is South Africa in a single dish: spices from the Indies, fruit from the Cape and a Dutch family bake. Sweet, savory, fragrant and easy.