Bobotie - the more simple version, but just as good!

It just goes to show how behind I am with keeping the blog up to date, that this blog post is about last Thursday's Bobotie!  I blame the advent of Christmas (literally!) with all its shopping and organising - not to mention racing Son & heir all over the neighbourhood, to keep up with his social engagements!

This Bobotie, however, just had to be blogged.  I've made Bobotie once before from a Rachel Allen recipe and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.  That recipe, however, was a touch more complicated than this Kevin Dundon version.  I would liken the difference between the two to being a situation where you'd use the Rachel Allen one for a dinner party, whereas the Kevin Dundon version is far more suitable for a mid-week dinner for the family.

As such, it was perfect.  Satisfyingly simple to prepare, it even gave me time to cook some lovely carrot & parsnip mash (which I'd make again - simply boil some cut carrots, then add the parsnip when the carrots are nearly done.  Drain, add plenty of butter and black pepper and blitz until smooth.  Got the thumbs up from the whole family) and shredded cabbage, all of which went perfectly with the Bobotie.  I have since made the Bobotie again, this time pairing it up with BBC Good Food's yellow rice recipe, which was also great.

Bobotie consists of a fairly dry mildly curry spiced, lamb mince mixture.  However, there are a couple of interesting turns that the meat mixture makes, not least the inclusion of a couple of slices of bread which have been soaked in milk.  On first reading, you need to suspend disbelief for a while and really concentrate on how you feel the flavours will meld together.  

Hand me a spoon, I could dive right in!

Owing to my having drained the fat from the meat, I found that I needed to add around 200ml of water to the meat mixture prior to putting it in the oven to bake, which next time I would make into lamb stock rather than just water - and have included in the recipe below.  However, the flavours were gorgeous.  Slightly sweet, slightly spicy, very lamby and with a tangy edge, the egg mixture that is poured on top adds a mildly foamy, interesting layer once it has been baked.  It didn't resemble scrambled egg, or an omelette, or baked eggs - it has a texture and a flavour all of its own.

January 2019 version!

BOBOTIE (the easier version)  Serves 3-4

Ingredients :

1 slice of bread
160ml milk
1 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped fine
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ tsp grated ginger root
1 flat tsp mild curry powder
½ tsp turmeric
500g minced lamb
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp tomato chutney
¼ of a lemon, juiced
30g raisins
100-200ml lamb stock
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs.

Method :

Pre-heat the oven to 170deg C/325deg F/Gas 3.

Soak the bread in the milk for around 10 minutes, then strain (I helped it along with a little squeeze), reserving the milk and fluff the bread up with a fork.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a moderate heat and add the minced lamb to the pan and increase the heat to maximum.  Break up the pieces of mince with a wooden spoon as it fries.  Season with a little sea salt and ground black pepper and fry until well browned to the point of caramelising.  Chase all the meat over to one side of the pan and drain off the worst of the fat (if necessary), removing the meat to a bowl.  (I use the onion/garlic bowl and tip them in beside the meat, then remove the meat into the empty bowl).  

Anyway, however you do it, add the onions and garlic and fry until softened over a reduced, moderate, heat.  Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder and turmeric and mix quickly to coat the onions in the spices.  Cook on for around 2-3 minutes.

Add the lamb back to the pan and stir well to combine.  Add the sugar, mashed bread, chutney, lemon juice and raisins to the mixture and mix well again.  Add enough stock until you have the mixture moistened sufficiently, without becoming "saucy".  Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Decant the mixture into a casserole dish, level the top and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

For the topping, whisk the milk and eggs together with a little sea salt & black pepper, then remove the casserole from the oven and pour the egg mixture on top of the meat.  Bake for a further 20 minutes or so, or until the egg mixture is browned on top and the edges are starting to sizzle.

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