Bobotie

Bobotie

Pronounced ba-boor-tea, the national dish of South Africa is a delicious mixture of curried meat and fruit with a creamy golden topping, not dissimilar to moussaka

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Pour cold water over the bread and set aside to soak.
  2. Meanwhile, fry the onions in the butter, stirring regularly for 10 mins until they are soft and starting to colour. Add the garlic and beef and stir well, crushing the mince into fine grains until it changes colour. Stir in the curry paste, herbs, spices, chutney, sultanas and 2 of the bay leaves with 1 tsp salt and plenty of ground black pepper.
  3. Cover and simmer for 10 mins. Squeeze the water from the bread, then beat into the meat mixture until well blended. Tip into an oval ovenproof dish (23 x 33cm and about 5-6cm deep). Press the mixture down well and smooth the top. You can make this and chill 1 day ahead.
  4. For the topping, beat the milk and eggs with seasoning, then pour over the meat. Top with the remaining bay leaves and bake for 35-40 mins until the topping is set and starting to turn golden.

Per serving

386 kcalories, protein 43g, carbohydrate 20g, fat 16 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 1g, sugar 13g, salt 0.97 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2008.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 121-140

  • 24 May 2011

    Chickin rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Loved this dish, really easy and very tasty, great for dinner parties as you can prepare the day before. I didn't have any allspice berries, so just used allspice powder instead. My husband is making this for us tonight and I think we'll put a bit more chutney in to give it extra flavour. Goes really well with the yellow rice which is just as tasty.

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  • 27 May 2011

    Nathan rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • 30 May 2011

    cyber-runner commented on this recipe

    If you don't want to use bread, you can use oats to bind the recipe - or as an alternative, whisk 2 eggs and mix into the meat mixture just before placing it into the baking dish. A big favourite in our house!

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  • 13 June 2011

    patti commented on this recipe

    made this several times now love it

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  • 13 June 2011

    patti rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    forgot to star rate it

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  • 10 July 2011

    Jeanie commented on this recipe

    Just eaten this for lunch, really tasty I thought, hubby thinks it would have been better with sweet potato mash on top instead, maybe next time I'll try it.

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  • 10 July 2011

    Jeanie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Ooops forgot to rate it lol.

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  • 18 August 2011

    xhayleybabyx rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    this already has loads of shining comments and ratings, but i'd like to add another! made this for myself and my housemates and it was gone in about 5 minutes!! really tasty and very easy to make.

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  • 18 August 2011

    rbarton22 rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo jj

    20 August 2011

    jj rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Just eaten it!! Yummmmmmmmmmmm, i also couldn't find these berries but it was delicious all the same!! What does the bread do in the recipe by the way??

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  • 21 August 2011

    natanya-joy commented on this recipe

    This was delish! I made it with only 300g of mince, rather than a kilo, but kept most of the quantities the same, and we still have loads of left overs. It's so filling! I didn't have mixed spice, cloves, madras currey paste, berries, bay leaves or chutney! But I looked up substitues for them, or just left them out and it turned out gorgeous. Will definitely be making it again, and best thing about it? My little kids loved it, so probably would leave the currey paste out anyway in future! Will definitely make this again..

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  • 21 August 2011

    natanya-joy rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • 26 August 2011

    Anna commented on this recipe

    Enjoyed this recipe however would leave off topping next time !

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  • 04 September 2011

    sarahyoung rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    delicious, i changed the sultanas for chopped dried apricots and added an extra tablespoon of curry paste. I doubled the toppin by using half milk, half creme fraiche and 4 eggs with some grated cheese

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  • 14 September 2011

    k2montgom rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic dish - will be making more of this soon. My friends love it and it is so easy to make.

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  • 19 September 2011

    Kirconnel rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Instead of using the topping, try using this mixture with pasta sheets to make a most unusual but fantastic lasagne. It is now one of our favourites.

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  • 23 September 2011

    judi commented on this recipe

    You can replace the white bread with rolled oats, and it's very tasty too!

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  • 23 September 2011

    judi commented on this recipe

    Mrs balls peach/ fruit chutney are now sold by Sainsburys in the UK, and realy give the flavour of the fruit in this recipe. Also bake sweet potatoes in its peels, and serve with rice and chutney for a real South african feast

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  • 30 October 2011

    rach rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious! Easy to make beofre hand too so can just pop in oven, made with the rice also yummy. bf said one of most tasty things had for tea

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  • 27 November 2011

    Druuna Lea rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I followed the recipe completely, and the outcome was amazing! So tasty, spicy and filling, plus low in fat and pretty healthy and easy to make. Yellow rice and apricot blatjang were great accompaniments. Will make again definitely!

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 slices white bread
  • 2 onions , chopped
  • 25g butter
  • 2 garlic cloves , crushed
  • 1kg packet lean minced beef
  • 2 tbsp madras curry paste
  • 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
  • 3 cloves
  • 5 allspice berries
  • 2 tbsp peach or mango chutney
  • 3 tbsp sultanas
  • 6 bay leaves

FOR THE TOPPING

  • 300ml full-cream milk
  • 2 large eggs
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Per serving

386 kcalories, protein 43g, carbohydrate 20g, fat 16 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 1g, sugar 13g, salt 0.97 g

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