Bobotie

Now if you have never heard of a Bobotie or bobotjie it is a South African dish. It is a mix of mice spices, sweet dried fruits and all topped with egg-based top. It is the sort of dish that has so many influence in to that you do not know where to start. First brought to South Africa by the Dutch East India Company colonies in Batavia, from Indonesia call  Bobotok, adopted by the Cape Malay community, and has been cooked in the Cape of Good Hope since the 17th century. It then moved north with South African settlers to colonies all over Africa and can be found in Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

You will need.

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

500g/1lb 2oz Beef mince

A dash of oil

2tbsp curry powder

The juice and zest of 1 lemon

2tbsp mango chutney

75g/2½oz sultanas

75g/2½oz ground almonds

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

3 eggs

150ml/5floz milk

1tblsp plain flour

25g/1oz butter

Now the one thing I will say is that it is up to you how hot your curry powder is , I normally go for a mild one to fit with the rest of the family but personally I like a hot one.

So to start with add a dash of oil to a frying pan and then brown the beef mince off. Once that has fully cooked remove it and then fry of the diced onions and crushed garlic until soft. Then add the he curry powder, sultanas, ground almonds, bay leaf and the cooked mince. Stir this together and finally add the lemon juice and zest, mango chutney and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then turn this out into an oven proof dish.

To make the topping melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the flour to make a roux. Add the milk a little at a time until you have a sort of white sauce. Then take it off the heat and let it just cool a little. Once it is cold enough whisk up your eggs and mix them into the white sauce. Then pour this over the top of the beef filling.

Now you need to bake this in an oven set at 180c/375f for about 30 to 40 minutes until it is nice and golden on top.