Bobotie, The Comfort Food Of South Africa

I first had Bobotie, in of all places at Walt Disney World. We were staying at the incredible Animal Kingdom Lodge and eating at Boma the buffet restaurant. I noticed this strange looking casserole of what looked like a cross between Sheppard’s pie and bread pudding. Me, being the adventuresome type, of course, had to try some. It was fantastic. The just slightly curried and mildly sweet ground meat filling went surprisingly well with the cinnamon egg custard topping. Bobotie’s textures and flavors are delicious and complex. It definitely made me think of Africa and South Africa in particular. If you haven’t been to visit The Animal Kingdom Lodge, you are, in my opinion, missing out on one of the best hotels anywhere, hands down. There are three restaurants at the lodge, and all of them are exotic and excellent. I have had some of the best meals I’ve ever had there, not to mention all the African wildlife you can watch.

I had told the waitress how much I loved the Bobotie and to my surprise, she went back to the kitchen and brought me a card on how to contact the chef to get the recipe. I emailed him, and before you know it, I had the recipe in my hands! I, of course, had to play around with it and do some research, but I think I’ve come up with an awesome version of Bobotie that is authentic to South Africa.

The origins of Bobotie actually go back to Roman Times where they would have spiced meat dishes with nuts and fruit. Eggs were added to set the mixture into blocks. The egg as a topping came to be from the Dutch settlers and the curry came from Asia and India influence. All those combined in South African to become the modern-day Bobotie. Bobotie is unofficially considered the national dish of South Africa. It can be found in many households all over the country. I work with many South Africans at the Lion King, and I brought in some of it to work one day. It got rave reviews as a taste from home.

Though there are many ingredients, none of them are hard to find, and this recipe is not particularly difficult to make. The only time-consuming part is the caramelized onions that I feel are necessary to make this dish utterly delicious. Traditionally Bobotie is made with a mixture of ground lamb and beef and sometimes pork. You can use any combination, I used half lamb and half pork here, but I want to try some pork in the mix next time. I have also learned that some settlers from South Africa who immigrated to Argentina and make a variation cooked in a pumpkin. I so want to make that in a future post!

Traditionally Bobotie is served with South African Yellow Rice. South African Yellow Rice is slightly sweet rice that has been cooked with turmeric, some raisins and butter. It is a fabulous recipe in its own right and has become one of my favorite side dishes. I encourage you to try Bobotie, this recipe is comfort food at it’s best.

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Bobotie

Prep Time

40 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 40 mins

 

A South African Comfort food, this casserole of ground beef, lamb and sometimes pork with dried fruit and nuts with an egg custard topping is delicious.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: South African

Keyword: caramelized onions, casserole, cinnamon, curry, dried apricots, egg custard, ground beef, ground lamb, rasians, savory, toasted almonds, turmeric

Servings: 12

Ingredients

The filling

• 2 lbs ground lamb or beef or 1/2 and 1/2 and or pork or a mixture (I used ½ lamb and ½ beef )
• 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
• 2 large onions, chopped about 4 cups
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 large clove fresh garlic, crushed
• 2 Teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 slices bread, crumbled
• 1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
• juice from ½ a lemon about 3 tablespoons
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1/3 cup black raisins
• 1/3 cup sultanas golden raisins
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds

The Topping

• 5 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch of black pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cream
• Cinnamon for the top

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

To prepare the filling.

1. Butter a 13 x 9 inch casserole or lasagna pan.
2. Heat a large skillet, dry over medium heat. Add the almonds and toast stirring often until golden brown, remove and set aside.
3. Brown the ground lamb and the ground beef if using, drain and set aside. In the same dirty skillet add the olive oil. Over medium-low heat, cook the onions with 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Stirring, often, cook until the onion has caramelized. The onions should be a deep golden brown and have reduced by more than half, it should take 20 minutes or more. This will develop great flavor.
4. Add the garlic and the curry powder, turmeric, and the cinnamon. Let the onion, garlic, spice mixture cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, to let the spices heat up, and become fragrant.
5. Stir in the vinegar scraping up the bottom of the pan to deglaze the spices and any other flavorful bits.
6. Take off the heat.
7. Add back in the ground meat.
8. Stir in the remaining sugar, breadcrumbs, lemon rind, lemon juice, salt, apricots, both kinds of raisins and the reserved toasted almonds.
9. Stir in the cream and the beaten egg. Mix the filling well to combine.
10. Spread the filling into the prepared casserole dish Pat down well, smoothing down the top.

To make the topping.

1. In a medium bowl or a 4 cup measuring cup, beat the eggs with the salt and pepper until frothy.
2. Beat in the milk and the cream.
3. Pour carefully over the filling. It helps to use a large spoon as a buffer letting the stream of milk hit the back of the spoon directly over the filling.
4. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon.
5. Bake the Bobotie for 1 hour, or until topping is set and golden brown.
6. Serve in cut squares with South African Yellow Rice if desired.

Recipe Notes

Serve in cut squares with South African Yellow Rice if desired.