My home language, mother tongue, or first language, is Afrikaans. There are some many theories about how Afrikaans originated (it is less than 150 years old). It is also "whitewashed" in the sense that people in apartheid claimed that it was ONLY a descendant language from Dutch; this was done to save "face" and to claim that it was a white language, even though more than half of its speakers aren't even white. It is only recently that this whitewashed ideology was rejected and the multicultural aspect of it accepted. So many Afrikaans words have their origin in languages such as Arabic, Malay and the Bantu languages, and many others. What does this have to do with food? Well, because the language has so many influences it stands that our food history is also influenced by this multicultural fact.
Last week, I shared a post about South African porridge. It is evident that many of the cultures in South Africa share food history. We are after all neighbours even though we don't agree on politics etc. So here is another such dish! Bobotie and yellow rice. The origin of this word is also disputed. From the Malayan word boemboe (meaning curry spices) to bobotok "an Indonesian dish which consisted of totally different ingredients" (from Wikipedia). The preparation of this dish also differs wildly from family to family! So again, talking of a traditional recipe brings up the question: according to what tradition? In any case, this is another uniquely South African dish with various preparation techniques and spices etc. I am going to share with you my mother's recipe which she received from her mother, and I do not know how old their recipe is. But here is the current method and recipe from my mother. I really hope you try this recipe and enjoy a South African classic! (We have friends from the Netherlands that visit us regularly, and they always request beforehand that my mother make this when they arrive here. So that says how good it is!)
This is a very simple recipe yet it is so delicious. It is not too heavy and it is not so light. It only takes a few ingredients:
- mince,
- onions,
- carrots,
- garlic,
- any curry spices you have available,
- chutney (fruit ones are very nice),
- milk and egg mixture,
- raisins, and
- rice
First, you cut the vegetables and fry them until caramelized. Then you add your spices and chutney. (I didn't have chutney on hand so I used apricot jam. Sometimes you put dried apricots in the dish so this is the best of both worlds!)
You then add the mince, and you can brown in more than I have, but my mother never really browned the mince. I think it might make the dish a bit "heavier" than the current recipe. After the mince is done, you add some raisins and a bit of milk. When everything is done, you add an egg and milk mixture on top (i used four eggs and a bit of milk) and bake it for 20-30 minutes at 180 C.
(You can add the bay leaves, but this is totally optional.)
And now for the rice. I am lazy and the quickest recipe to make rice for me is 3 cups of water for 1 cup of rice (and 1 teaspoon of salt) and 18 minutes in the microwave. I also add a quarter teaspoon or just a pinch of turmeric powder to make the rice yellow. After it is cooked, I just add some raisins.
And it is that simple, it takes maybe an hour and half of active cooking from start to finish. I really hope you try this unique South African dish a try! Maybe your culture or family has a similar recipe? Please let me know in the comments! Stay safe and happy cooking.