Babotie / Bobotie

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Babotie is a traditional Cape Malay dish that usually contains sultanas

Recipe Category: Meat

Ingredients

for the mince

2 slices white bread, crusts removed, roughly torn up
125 mls milk *
30 mls olive oil
50 g butter
2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
600 g lamb mince **
12.5 mls mild curry powder
3.75 mls ground cinnamon
Generous grind of black pepper
1 lemon, juice and grated zest
15 mls mango atchar / chutney
5 mls fructose
15 g blanched almonds, roughly chopped

for the savoury topping:

6 bay leaves
Reserved milk * plus extra to make it up to 100mls
2 large eggs
100 mls cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
Ground nutmeg for sprinkling

Method

for the mince

Place the bread into a small bowl and add the milk
Leave to stand while you prepare the mince
Heat the oil in an stove and oven proof casserole dish over a medium temperature
When hot add the butter and leave to melt
Sauté the onions and chillies until the onions are soft and golden
Add the garlic and mince and continue cooking until the mince is browned, stirring frequently
Season with the spices, black pepper and lemon zest and cook for a further 5 minutes
Squeeze the excess milk from the bread (*reserving the milk) and add the bread to the mince
Stir well to break up any lumps
Add the lemon juice, chutney, sugar and almonds and stir well
Remove from the heat and allow to cool
Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius

for the savoury topping:

*** Place the bay leaves into the mince so that they stick out
Whisk together the milk, eggs and cream
Season generously before pouring the mixture over the mince
Sprinkle the top with ground nutmeg
Set the dish into a roasting pan and fill the roasting pan halfway with hot water
Bake for 35 minutes until the top is set
Serve with boiled rice, baked sweet potato, or in a hollowed out bread roll

Notes

** use beef mince if you cannot get lamb mince
*** at this stage you could transfer the mince to an oven proof dish but I prefer to bake it in the casserole dish