I was looking for an old bobotie recipe that I had and Bamble kindly pm'd one to me, however today I rescued a few boxes of books from storage, reacquainted myself with some old friends and found the old recipe that I used from a Dorling Kindersley recipe book on curry. I post it here for your delectation
Bobotie from DK Curry, fabulous dishes from around the world
Ingredients
2 slices white bread crusts removed
125ml milk
2 tbs veg oil
50g butter
2 onions roughly chopped
2 red chillies deseeded and chopped
4 large cloves of garlic finely chopped
600g minced lamb
2.5 tsp mild curry powder
0.75 tsp ground cinnamon
0.75 tsp cracked black peppercorns
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp Mrs Balls extra hot chutney or other hot chutney, chopped
1 tsp Demerara sugar
1 tbsp blanched almonds, halved
6 lemon leaves or fresh bay leaves
Savoury Topping
2 large eggs
100ml single cream
100ml milk
0.25 tsp crushed black peppercorns
Pinch grated nutmeg
Method
Tear bread into rough pieces, place in a small bowl and pour over the milk. Leave to one side for about 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a flame proof casserole and, when hot, add the butter. Tip in the onions and chillies and cook until golden. Add garlic and minced lamb and continue frying, stirring frequently until the meat browns. Sprinkle over curry powder, cinnamon, peppercorns and lemon zest. Stir and fry over a moderate heat for for another 5 minutes to cook the spices.
Squeeze excess milk from the bread and add to the minced lamb. Stir well to break up any lumps. Add lemon juice, chutney, sugar and almonds. Remove from heat and leave to cool before turning meat mixture into a 1 litre/2 pint pie dish. Roll lemon or bay leaves into cigar shapes and stand them upright in the spiced meat. They should peep through the lamb.
Preheat oven to 180c
Whisk together eggs, cream and milk and stir in peppercorns. Pour this savoury custard over the mince and sprinkle with grated nutmeg. Set the pie dish on a roasting tin half filled with hot water. Bake for 25 minutes or until the topping is golden and set.
Serve with boiled rice or baked sweet potatoes. Bobotie also works well with a crisp salad and some tangy chutney.