A classic Bobotie recipe, never goes out of style. As a matter of fact, if you are pondering what to cook for dinner – or even better – what to cook for your dinner PARTY – don’t look anywhere else…
I have had this recipe for years and years. It was one of the first recipes I had scribbled down from my mom’s recipes in my little excuse of a recipe book when I was a student. Cleaning out closest really is so rewarding when you can find gems like these…
For those who are not familiar with Bobotie and what it entails, allow me to explain.
It is a South African meat dish, usually made with ground beef mince, in a spicy and sweet curry sauce and topped with an egg and milk mixture, then baked in the oven until set. Recipes for Bobotie has been around since the 1600’s people, even more reason to make this local delight for your loving family…
I decided to serve my Bobotie with yellow raisin rice, green bean and potato mash and sweet pumpkin – delicious with this spicy meat dish.
You will notice that I don’t have any raisins in my ingredient list. I find most people aren’t too keen on raisins in the baked meat – so I use raisins in my cooked rice. It’s easier to pick out that way… Hope you get to try this delectable Bobotie recipe and let me know what your thoughts are! Cheers!
| Prep Time | 15 min |
| Cook Time | 1 hour |
| Servings | servings |
- 15 ml olive oil
- 3 onions finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 kg beef mince
- 4 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoons salt
- black pepper to season
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons fine apricot jam
- 1/2 cup chutney
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 2 slices white bread soaked in a little milk
- 4 large eggs
- 500 ml milk
- salt and black pepper
- 3 bay leaves
Ingredients
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- First off, in a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and saute the onion and garlic.
- Add the beef mince and brown – you can add ½ cup of water to help with the browning of the meat. This will take about 10 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl combine the curry powder, turmeric, salt, black pepper, lemon juice, jam, chutney, sugar, tomato sauce and soaked bread. Mix until combined.
- Add the sauce to the browned meat, and simmer for 30 minutes, mixing through regularly.
- Transfer the meat to an oven safe baking dish.
- In a mixing bowl - combine the eggs, milk and seasoning. Gently pour the egg mixture over the meat and add the bay leaves.
- Bake for 30 – 40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius until the egg has set. Serve with yellow rice, sweet pumpkin and green bean mash.
Your recipe is different from mine, which isn’t a surprise given Bobotie’s age. I must try your version soon but thought you’d like to hear about the twist that is in my version. I learned to use fresh lemon leaves and not bay in mine! I put half the mince mix into the dish and then layer a good few fresh lemon leaves across the surface, then cover with the rest of the meat and egg mixture. The flavour is very different but rather special! I am a Brit who now lives in northern Portugal and can find lemon leaves in my garden instead of having to surreptitiously check over the lemons in the supermarket, fingers crossed!
Hi Susan,
Thank you for the comment! I love the sound of that, and I’m going to be on the lookout for lemon leaves too! Enjoy!
Hey Anina. My sons kindergarden just done this team were they “travelled” to four different countries, one of them was South Africa and to end it all up we’re having dinner at the kindergarten. So I’m bringing your dish as our input to South Africa food. I’m would like to bring to green bean mash, but can’t find a recipe… And this Dane is now a steady follower of your blog, your food looks so delicious.
Hi Mai!
Thank you for the lovely comment, I’m so glad you enjoy the blog! You simply chop the green beans, 500gr with one or two peeled and chopped potatoes and one sliced onion. Cook away until the veggies are soft, grab your masher and mash it all together. Add two tablespoons of butter and season with salt and loads of black pepper! Enjoy!
Hello! What kind of chutney do you recommend? From what I understand, there are tons of variations and flavors.
Hi Sarah, we love the Mrs. Balls fruit chutney range here in South Africa. Peach chutney will also work fine – and it won’t hurt if you choose the “hot” chutney for an extra kick! Enjoy.
Hi I am wanting to do this dish for a school project but I was wondering on a scale of 1-10 how spicy it is?
Hi Mabry, this bobotie recipe is very mild, and won’t be too hot for the kids. It’s more of a sweet curry than a spicy one, so I’d say it will be a 2/10. Enjoy!
What kind of curry ? There are so many types curried and I am. It in South African at the moment
Hi Marleen, I love to use the Rajah Curries – Mild and Spicy for this one. Hope this helps!
Baked, easy to make, looks delicious… about to tuck in!
How Awesome! Enjoy!
Hi, am I missing the part in the recipe where the bread is used? Thank you
Hi Nicki, it is used as part of the curry sauce. You will see it mentioned in step 3, in the recipe. Hope you enjoy the Bobotie.
Your recipe doen not mention oven cooking time and process on when to add the egg mixture?
Hi Eben, it is mentioned in the last two paragraphs of the recipe Method. You add the egg mixture once your meat is cooked and ready in your baking dish. Then you pour the egg mixture over and bake for 30 – 40min, at 180 degrees Celsius or until the egg mix is set. Enjoy!
Made this recipe as a replacement for our family recipe I no longer seem to have – loved it with a few small changes
Added 2 apples as we always had that in ours
Halved the salt and added 1/4 cup tomato paste
Loved it thanks for sharing
Sounds great Deirdre! Thanks for dropping in!