Really easy and tasty recipe. I used half fat creme fraiche instead of cream in the topping and it was really delicious. Served with salad for a good healthy meal. Will definitely make this again!

use lamb mince rather than beef and also add zest and juice of 1 lemon,1 tablespoon of brown sugar and a few chillies, serve with roasted sweet potato

Used this recipe this evening because I have lost the one my mum used to use. Really good. However I remembered my mother used to add lemon juice and flaked almonds so I added these. Used the crusts from a loaf of wholemeal bread and missed out the all spice berries, herbs and cloves. Was till gorgeous and enjoyed by all!

In South Africa it's common to use fresh lemon leaves rather than bay leaves because fresh bay leaves are not always easily obtainable and dried bay leaves are usually tasteless. Lemon leaves impart a very pleasant and unique flavour.

I have used Fry's vegetarian mince instead of meat, and the results were very satisfactory.

May not look all that special but tasted delicious - lovely comfort food for a cold night!

So lovely to make, even lovelier to eat! The house smells delicious and even the unadventurous husband ate a good sized portion. Our two year old wolfed it down!! I made a banana chutney to accompany it, and served with a dollop of natural yoghurt. I will certainly be making this again...and again....and again...! :)

I love discovering new dishes and so wanted to like this but I was bitterly disappointed with the result. The custard topping just didn't seem to go with the mince. The mince was interesting but a little too sweet and spicy, rather like a sweet mince pie. I would try tweaking the mince recipe to tone down the sweetness but the rest of the family absolutely hated it so I probably won't bother. Sorry. :(

I minced up leftover roast beef to make this and also added the leftover gravy as I thought it looked a bit stodgy. It was tasty but I wasn't mad keen on the texture. Doubt that I'd make this one again. The yellow rice was, however, delicious.

Thinking of making this on the weekend, this time plan is:
To serve two... cut a marrow in half horizontally scoop it out, fill with the babotie and top with the egg topping, cover with foil and cook for 40mins uncover and continue cooking for 20mins and serve... wonder if this would work.

Yum.
Would be tempted to add some courgette or pepper to this to pad it out and make it a bit healthier, but actually it's lovely as it is with a large salad and some yellow rice.
Will become a standard family meal.

This is one of my all time fav meals, i found it in a good food mag i think 19 years ago and have cooked it since, although the original one had sliced banana ontop of the mince and under the topping, which just makes it mega yummy

I first tried this in a pub years ago and recently found this recipe, hoping to replicate the original. I made it with minced quorn for a veggie/lower fat version and it turned out very well. If you make it with Quorn, best to add some water to the mince as it absorbs liquid so quickly and there is little of that in this recipe. Quorn also freezes very well and my family have difficulty in telling the difference between this and mince beef. It is a very rich and fairly sweet dish, but the flavours are wonderful. I was wondering about adding the soaked bread and thought it may make it a little "lumpy", but no problem there, it mixed in really well. I used a mango and apricot chutney and a teaspoon of Allspice (instead of the berries. Personally, I would just serve it with a crisp salad with a lemon/citrus dressing as it is such a substantial dish.

Made this the other day and will be making again. a meat loaf with a difference.Fab dish. Used low fat creme fraige (sorry, not sure about the spelling) instead of full fat milk which give it a nice topping and added a pinch of cinnamon which added a lovely flavour. Made the Apricot Blatjang as suggested on here which is well worth cooking as it tasted great and will keep in glass jar for ages.

Made this yesterday for dinner & its so tasty!!! Only alterations I made were to use a wholemeal bap, tikka paste & some allspice powder rather than berries. Not sure if i was supposed to but I also ALWAYS drain my mince once fried to remove as much excess fat as possible.
My two children (5yrs & 3yrs) had it with some oven baked potato wedges & broccoli & I had clear plates (one of which is a fussy eater!!) My eldest even actually asked for more rather than her pudding!!!!
Myself & my husband had ours with boiled rice & the cucumber & onion salad thingy - all went really well with each other.
I will definatly be making this dish again, love the flavours & the fact its something slightly different yet so quick & simple to make!!!

Don't know what happened but the topping was like scrambled egg that wouldn't set, although the meat was ok. May have another go at this and see if i do better. this is the only thing from this site that we haven't really liked and i use this site a lot.

I followed the recipe quite closely, just used cream instead of milk for the topping, and it turned out really well. We entertained a south African friend, and she absolutely loved it. She suggested adding shredded carrots and apples, so we'll try that next time. Thanks very much for sharing this.
Chris in Victoria Canada

This is a brilliant recipe that I've cooked on many occasions. I usually put mixed spice in, rather than all the separate spices. Jooles - I always make more than I need and simply put it in a container in the freezer. All you then need to do is defrost it, put the topping on and bake!

I wonder if this could be frozen, if I put it in freezer (wrapped well) at the point of putting on the topping, I would put that on when it goes in the oven and will of course make sure the meat hasn't been previously frozen.
I have made this dish before and its lush, I want to make it again this weekend and would like to freeze some too...??

I love this, im not sure where i made mine from originally but i use longways sliced bananas over the top and its sooooo yummy

Bobotie is now a family favourite. Not like anything I have tasted before, a gorgeous rich flavour. Lovely with the yellow rice. Will make next time we have friends over too as so easy to make.