Sweet Dream Bobotie
Recipe development and photography by Rochelle Keet
Bobotie (pronounced buh-boor-tea) is a classic South African dish. Its assembly might remind you of a moussaka—sweet, fragrant meat (curried in the case of the bobotie) is topped with a custard and baked until golden. Bobotie is traditionally made with fruit chutney—a staple ingredient in most South African homes. But in the US, fruit chutney is not all that common. So instead, we reached for the sweet, fruity ADF Sweet Dream Sauce, it provided just the taste we needed. A bit savory, somewhat sweet, and even a bit fruity. If you haven’t tried this fruity, curry dish before, you’ll be pleasantly surprised! It’s the ultimate comfort food!
servings:
4
PREP & COOK TIME:
30 mins prep time
30 mins cook time
calories:
551 per half loaf
White bread, cubed
1 slice
Milk
1/2 cup
Butter
1 tsp
Oil
1 tsp
Salt
1/2 tsp
Ground beef
1lb
Medium curry powder
1 tbsp
Tumeric
3/4 tsp
Ground cumin
1/2 tsp
Ground ginger
1/2 tsp
Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp
Ground almonds
1/4 cup
3 tbsp
Apple, grated
1
Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp
Tomato paste
1 tbsp
Eggs, whisked
2
Plain yogurt
1 cup
Flaked almonds
to serve
Salt and pepper
to taste
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 360°F/180°C.
- In a small bowl, add the milk to the cubed bread and allow to stand for at least 5 minutes to soften. Then mash until smooth.
- Add the butter and oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and salt, and sauté until the onions are golden.
- Add the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the beef and cook until browned, using a wooden spoon to break up clumps of meat.
- Sprinkle in the curry powder, turmeric, cumin, ginger, and cinnamon, and stir until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Stir in the ground almonds, the ADF Sweet Dream Sauce, apple, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Remove the lid and stir in the mashed bread, Transfer the beef to an oven-safe dish (you can use a medium dish or four small ramekins).
- Combine the eggs and milk, and season with salt and pepper. Pour the egg-milk mixture over the beef and sprinkle with flaked almonds.
- Bake at 360°F/180°C for 25-30 minutes until golden and set.
- Serve with yellow rice (see below).
NOTES:
- Keep an eye on the ground beef while cooking. It shouldn’t dry out too much, but there should be no residual liquid. If it looks too dry, you can add a little bit of milk.
- Boboties are prone to drying out, so to prevent this, you can bake the dish in a pan of water.
- If you use an oven-safe skillet, you can make this bobotie recipe in the skillet, add the custard topping, and get it straight in the oven. Fewer dishes to clean up!
- To prepare yellow rice (the classic side dish for bobotie), cook up a pot of rice (1 cup raw rice), adding 2 tsp butter, 2 tsp brown sugar, 1 tsp turmeric, 2 tbsp raisins at the start of cooking.
- You can make the mince mixture ahead of time, and then add the custard topping before baking.
